Tom Hanks’ 2013 movie Captain Phillips was based on a true story, and it was surprisingly accurate about what actually happened during the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama. Captain Phillips depicted the true story of the 2009 hijacking of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama by Somali pirates. Hanks played the тιтular Richard Phillips, and Captain Phillips even included one of Hanks’ best scenes ever. Captain Phillips is a very good movie, but it owes much of its acclaim to the true story behind it.

Captain Phillips is an intense thriller, and much of that tension comes from the true story. In April 2009, the Maersk Alabama was hijacked by Somali pirates. Though they left the ship on the same day, they took Phillips hostage in a small lifeboat for five days. From abuse at the hands of his kidnappers to the cramped and H๏τ conditions of the lifeboat, Richard Phillips had a terrible experience. Captain Phillips was able to convey the harrowing nature of the true story very accurately, but it didn’t get all the real details exactly right.

Somali Pirates Hijacked Captain Richard Phillips’ Cargo Ship In 2009

The Hijacking Of The Maersk Alabama Really Happened

In April 2009, Captain Phillips and the Maersk Alabama was carrying emergency food supplies from Ṣalālah, Oman to Mombasa, Kenya (via The Gainesville Sun). That route took the ship around the Horn of Africa, off the coast of Somalia, where a group of pirates found the ship on their radar. Somalia experienced a resurgence in piracy in the 2000s for a variety of reasons. A pirate expert analyzed Captain Phillips and said that the piracy began as a way to protect Somali fishing waters.

The instability of the region, the profitability of piracy, and a lack of policing made piracy very lucrative, though (via History). The increasing danger of Somali pirates was well-known when the Maersk Alabama was making its trip to Kenya. The United States Navy even issued seven warnings to Captain Phillips via email advising him to take his ship 600 miles off the coast (via CNN). Phillips ignored those warnings and kept the Maersk Alabama about 240 miles off the coast (via History).

His crew members criticized Phillips for not heeding that warning, but Phillips himself defended his decision by saying that he believed no amount of distance would protect them from pirate attacks (via CNN). As Captain Phillips depicted, the Maersk Alabama was originally attacked by several pirate skiffs on April 7, but they turned back before reaching the ship. The following day, April 8, one of the skiffs, crewed by four Somali pirates, attacked the ship again.

Again, the movie accurately depicted that the pirates’ skiff was flooded and lost, although in real life it was done by the Maersk Alabama‘s rudder, not the hoses. Despite losing their skiff, the four pirates were able to board, and April 8, 2009, marked the first time pirates had boarded a U.S. ship in almost 200 years (via Encyclopedia Britannica).

What Happened To The Crew On Board The Maersk Alabama Cargo Ship

The Pirates Allowed Most Hostages To Go Free

The majority of the crew of the Maersk Alabama was safe when the pirates boarded. They retreated into the engine room, which was fortified and defensible (via Encyclopedia Britannica). Crew members, including Captain Phillips, who were stationed on the bridge, however, were not able to reach safety, and were captured by the pirates. The pirates then sent one of the crew down to bring the rest of the crew to the bridge, but he didn’t do so.

One of the pirates, Abduwali Muse, then brought another crew member down to the engine room, but as Captain Phillips showed, Muse was ambushed and captured by the crew. None of the crew members of the Maersk Alabama, aside from Captain Phillips, were injured while the pirates had control of the ship, but they did manage to cut Muse on the hand. The crew members in the engine room then tried to use the captured pirate to secure the safety of the other crew members on the bridge.

During the exchange, however, the crew let Muse go, but the pirates refused to release Captain Phillips. They then cut the Maersk Alabama‘s power and took Phillips hostage as they escaped in a lifeboat.

Why The Somali Pirates Took Captain Phillips Hostage On The Lifeboat

They Planned To Ransom The Captain Of The Maersk Alabama

After the four pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama, they quickly realized they would not be able to control such a large ship. They attempted to force the crew to pilot the ship at gunpoint, but after Muse was captured and his gun was taken, that was no longer an option. With their own skiff destroyed and any chances of taking the Maersk Alabama gone, the pirates still wanted to make some profit out of the situation, and recover the cost of their sunken skiff, so they planned to ransom Phillips for $2 million (via BBC).

Aside from the ransom they were seeking, the Somali pirates had a few reasons to take Captain Phillips hostage. As the movie depicted, Phillips was used as a human shield to prevent the U.S. Navy from simply capturing or destroying the lifeboat before they could reach the Somali coast. Since the lifeboat ran out of fuel quickly after departing the Maersk Alabama, the pirates aimed to be rescued by other Somali pirates in the area. Those pirates had captured other ships, and they may have planned to use their hostages as additional human shields.

How Captain Phillips & The Maersk Alabama Crew Were Rescued

The U.S. Navy Intervened

After the pirates left, the Maersk Alabama‘s crew restored the ship’s power and began following the lifeboat as they waited for aid from the U.S. Navy. Eventually, on April 9, the USS Bainbridge arrived to handle the hostage crisis on the lifeboat. The Maersk Alabama was eventually told to continue on their route to Kenya with armed soldiers providing protection (via Encyclopedia Britannica).

After returning to the U.S., 11 of the Maersk Alabama‘s 20 crew members sued the ship’s owners and operators for $50 million for sending them into pirate-infested waters (via The Guardian). That lawsuit was settled out of court. As for Captain Phillips, the events of the movie showed his rescue very accurately. Phillips had a failed escape attempt, and though Muse was captured, Phillips was also recaptured.

After a total of five days being held captive, the Navy SEALs opened fire on the three pirates remaining in the lifeboat after they pointed a weapon at Phillips, killing them all (via Encyclopedia Britannica). As the ending of Captain Phillips showed, Phillips was then given medical attention for seasickness, abrasions on his wrists, and other injuries from the pirates’ abuse, but he was not harmed by the SEALs.

What Happened To The Somali Pirates That Carried Out The Hijacking

Three Of The Four Pirates Were Killed

Three of the four Somali pirates who hijacked the Maersk Alabama were killed by SEAL Team Six during the operation to rescue Captain Phillips. The fourth pirate, Abduwali Muse, was captured earlier, when Phillips attempted to jump out of the lifeboat. Muse was extradited to the United States, where he was put on trial.

Muse pled guilty to six counts related to piracy under international law, and a New York court sentenced him to almost 34 years in prison, nearly the maximum sentencing (via ABC News). Muse asked for forgiveness from Phillips and the rest of the crew during the trial.

How Accurate Was Captain Phillips To The Real Story?

The Movie Leaves Out Some Controversial Elements

For the most part, Captain Phillips is a remarkably accurate movie about an incredibly tense real-world event from recent history. It was a difficult тιԍнтrope to walk in this regard, too. With the hijacking happening in 2009, rather than the distant past like many of Tom Hanks’ WW2 movies, there was no shortage of footage and evidence, so any inaccurate moments in Captain Phillips would have been incredibly obvious.

However, director Paul Greengrᴀss and screenwriter Billy Ray did a commendable job at bringing the true story to the screen. They also managed to resist turning certain aspects of the film, such as the rescue of Richard Philips by the U.S. Navy, into overly gung-ho action sequences. However, while it gets many of the events and details of the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama right, Captain Phillips has also been criticized for its creative liberties in other areas.

The main areas of historical inaccuracy in Captain Philips are around its portrayal of the тιтular captain himself. The Tom Hanks’ character was portrayed in a way that painted him as a much more heroic protagonist (in other words, he was turned into a Tom Hanks character – a presence with a few minor flaws and vulnerabilities, but was ultimately incredibly likable for audiences). The version of Captain Philips played by Tom Hanks was the anchor for the plot of the narrative hijacking movie, but was quite different from the real person.

The crew of the ship ᴀsserted that Phillips was far less heroic than the movie made him out to be. Some have even claimed that the real Capain Philips was partially responsible for the danger the crew found themselves in. There are reports that Philips ignored many integral safety nets when plotting the course of the vessel, and this left both the ship and its crew vulnerable to the type of pirate attack they eventually experienced.

For example, many of the real crew members of the Maesk Alabama specifically took issue with his refusal to move further away from the coast of Somalia instead of staying within 250 miles of it – a known danger H๏τ spot when it comes to maritime trade. Captain Phillips also added some dialogue Phillips himself confirmed he never said, such as his offering to sacrifice himself to save the crew. There were a few additional inconsistencies between Captain Phillips and the real-world hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, but the true story was still harrowing.

What The Real Captain Phillips Is Doing Now

Phillips Returned To His Job As A Mariner

While he faced some controversy for his actions prior to the hijacking, following the events depicted in the movie, the real Captain Phillips became regarded as a hero in the media. Phillips’ story was heavily publicized and it quickly led to newfound success for the mariner. Just months after the rescue, Phillips signed on with talent agency Creative Arts Agency (CAA) and began the process of turning his life rights into a memoir. The result was the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea, which was published in April 2010.

The book became the basis for Captain Phillips the movie, bringing ever more notoriety to the real-life captain. However, despite the media attention and everything he had endured on the high-seas, Phillips quickly returned to his job as a mariner and remained working for several years. Phillips eventually retired in 2014 and now serves as a public speaker, detailing the events that made him famous.

Sources: The Gainesville Sun, CNN, History, Encyclopedia Britannica, The Guardian, BBC, ABC News