Richard Phillips (captain)

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Richard Phillips (2009)

Richard Phillips (born May 16, 1955 in Winchester , Massachusetts ) is an American merchant marine captain who became famous after being kidnapped by Somali pirates in 2009. His experiences served as a template for the 2013 movie Captain Phillips .

Career

Phillips was born and raised in Winchester, where he graduated from high school in 1973 . He then enrolled at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and planned to study international law, but later moved to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy , where he successfully graduated in 1979. Phillips has been married since 1987 and has two children. He lives with his family on a Vermont farm .

kidnapping

The lifeboat in which Phillips was held captive by the four pirates

Phillips was captain of the container ship Maersk Alabama from the US shipping company Maersk Line , a subsidiary of the world's biggest container shipping company. The Maersk Alabama was in April 2009 before the Somali coast boarded by pirates . The pirates took him by fleeing to the free-fall lifeboat of the Maersk Alabama hostage. The hostage-taking and kidnapping was ended by United States Navy SEALs , with three of the four kidnappers being killed.

Phillips' possible personal responsibility for the pirate attack is the subject of a lawsuit that started in 2013, which brought about half of his ship's crew against the owner and operator of Maersk Alabama . They accuse Phillips, among other things, of having knowingly put them in avoidable danger by not maintaining the recommended minimum distance from the pirate-controlled coast of Somalia .

Life after the kidnapping

Richard Phillips after his rescue with Frank Castellano, Commander of the USS Bainbridge

After his liberation, Phillips and his wife were invited to the Oval Office by President Obama . Fourteen months after the abduction, Phillips went back to sea.

In October 2013, Phillips used his prominence in a publicity campaign launched by his union to warn of the negative consequences of the threat of budget cuts for the civilian fleet to supply US troops worldwide. The fleet of 60 US ships, which the US Department of Commerce has previously subsidized as part of a special program , including Maersk Alabama , which he managed in 2009 , is threatened with a reduction by a third.

Awards

  • Admiral Arleigh Burke Leadership Award, presented by the US Navy League in June 2009
  • National Maritime Valor Award given in November 2009 by the Nauticus National Maritime Center in Norfolk, Virginia

Motion picture

His autobiography on kidnapping, published in 2010, served as a template for the 2013 movie Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks in the title role. Phillips was involved in the preparation of the film as a consultant to the scriptwriter, director, and lead actor and visited one of the locations while it was being made.

Fonts

Literature (selection)

  • Pirate Alley: Commanding Task Force 151 Off Somalia , Terry McKnight, Michael Hirsh, Chapter 10: The Rescue of Captain Phillips , page 147 ff., Partly online [1]
  • Pirates of Somalia: The Hijacking and Daring Rescue of MV Maersk Alabama , John Fleury, partly online [2]
  • Hell days at sea: In the hands of Somali pirates - rescued by Navy Seals , Captain Richard Phillips, Stephan Talty, partly online [3]
  • Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 111th Congress First Session: Vol. 155 Part 8 , April 22, 2009, pages 10325-10329, partly online [4]
  • Somali Piracy and Terrorism in the Horn of Africa , Christopher Daniels, Scarecrow Pr Inc, April 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-8310-9 , page 147, partly online [5]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Captain Phillips (2013) historyvshollywood.com
  2. ^ Richard Phillips at Random House Books
  3. ^ In Rescue of Captain, Navy Kills 3 Pirates . In: New York Times .
  4. ↑ Profile: Captain Richard Phillips at bbc.co.uk.
  5. ↑ liberado el capitán estadounidense que estaba por retenido piratas somalíes . elmundo.es.
  6. ↑ Snipers free kidnapped US captain . tz-online.de.
  7. ↑ A drama, a happy ending, and a silent hero . In: Rheinische Post .
  8. ↑ Crew seized by pirates say Tom Hanks movie has got 'hero' Captain Phillips wrong. In: The Telegraph , October 9, 2013, accessed November 27, 2013.
  9. ^ Richard Phillips Visits the Oval Office nytimes.com
  10. ↑ Nick Logan: Capt. Richard Phillips still sailing seas after 2009 pirate attack . In: Global News , October 12, 2013. Retrieved November 26, 2013. 
  11. ↑ David Alexander: Real Captain Phillips warns cuts could hit Pentagon shipping program. In: Reuters of October 10, 2013, accessed on November 27, 2013 (English)
  12. ^ Former Pirate Hostage Receives Navy League Leadership Award. Announcement dated June 14, 2009 on the U.S. Navy website, accessed November 29, 2013
  13. ^ M / V Maersk Alabama Captain Richard Phillips Receives Valor Award. In: Military News of November 20, 2009, accessed November 29, 2013
  14. ↑ In the hands of pirates. Richard Phillips: "I'm not a hero". In: n-tv of November 15, 2013, accessed on November 27, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Phillips, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Phillips, Rich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American captain, author, and kidnap victim
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Winchester , Massachusetts , United States