Richard Phillips (merchant mariner)
Richard Phillips ( born May 16, 1955 in Winchester, Massachusetts) is an American merchant navy captain, who became known after his abduction by Somali pirates in 2009. His experiences served as the template for the 2013 released movie Captain Phillips.
Career
Phillips was born in Winchester, grew up there and reached there in 1973 his high school graduation. He then enrolled at the University of Massachusetts and was planning to study law, but then switched later to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where he successfully completed his studies in 1979. Phillips has been married since 1987 and has two children. He lives with his family on a farm in Vermont.
Abduction
→ Main article: Pirates attack and hostage-taking
Phillips was captain of the container ship Maersk Alabama the U.S. shipping company Maersk Line, a subsidiary of the world's largest container shipping company. The Maersk Alabama was boarded in April 2009 off the Somali coast by pirates. The Pirates took him in their flight with the free-fall lifeboat of the Maersk Alabama hostage. The hostage-taking and kidnapping was stopped by United States Navy SEALs, with three of the four hijackers were killed.
Phillips' possible personal responsibility for the pirate attack is the subject of a 2013 tarnished court procedure which obtains about half of its former crew against the owner and the operator of the Maersk Alabama. Take Phillips, among other things, he had knowingly issued in preventable danger, in that he had the recommended minimum distance to the coast of Somalia controlled by pirates not respected.
Life after the abduction
After his liberation, Phillips was invited along with his wife by President Obama to the Oval Office. Fourteen months after the abduction Phillips went back to sea.
In October 2013 Phillips used his prominence to warn as part of a public awareness campaign launched by his union of negative consequences of impending budget cuts for civil fleet worldwide replenishment of U.S. troops. The date under a special program subsidized by the U.S. Department of Commerce fleet of 60 U.S. ships, who was also performed by him in 2009, Maersk Alabama, was facing a one-third reduction.
Awards
- Admiral Arleigh Burke Leadership Award, awarded in June 2009 by the U.S. Navy League, Navy League
- National Maritime Valor Award, awarded in November 2009 by the Nauticus National Maritime Center in Norfolk, Virginia
Movie
His autobiography published in 2010 on the abduction was the inspiration for the 2013 movie Captain Phillips appeared with Tom Hanks in the title role. Phillips was involved as an advisor to the scriptwriter, director and lead actor in the preparation of the film and visited during the filming of one of the locations.
Writings
- A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea, ISBN 978-1-401-31044-8 German: Hell days at sea, Heyne, 2013, ISBN 978-3-453-20062-3
Literature (selection )
- Pirate Alley: Commanding Task Force 151 off Somalia, Terry McKnight, Michael Hirsh, Chapter 10: The Rescue of Captain Phillips, page 147 ff, partially online
- Pirates of Somalia: The hijacking and Daring Rescue of MV Maersk Alabama, John Fleury, partially online
- Hell days at sea: In the hands of Somali pirates - rescued by Navy Seals, Captain Richard Phillips, Stephan Talty, partially online
- Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 111th Congress First Session: Vol 155 Part 8 22 April 2009, Page 10325-10329, partially online