Survival on pirate-infested waters

Rating: 8/10 (26 February 2014)

Popular culture meant that piracy has always been romanticised. But in the real world, piracy is a real and serious issue and is happening. One such example took place in 2009 when container ship Marsek Alabama found itself to be a victim of hijacking off the Somali coast, a known hotspot for maritime piracy.
Experienced ship captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) had been tasked to take command of MV Marsek Alabama, which is an unarmed container ship docked in Oman with the orders to sail through the Gulf of Aden to Mombasa, round the Horn of Africa. Meanwhile in Somalia, a team had been selected for preparing to head out to sea with the mission of hijacking a ship.
With the route MV Marsek Alabama was taking, a warning system was issued to the ship on the possibility of piracy activity. Wary of what could happen when the vessel is off the coast of Somalia, Phillips decided to ramp up on security around the vessel and having practice drills with the crew. It would be during a drill where the vessel would be chased by Somali pirates in two skiffs. One of the two would be fended off after Phillips had outrun them and when he had called for support.
But the day after, one of the two skiffs would be returned with four heavily armed pirates led by its own leader Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Adi) but with the ladder hastily welded the night before. Despite the best efforts from Phillips and his crew, the Somali pirates managed to board and capture the Marsek Alabama. By this time, the crew were hiding in the engine room as Phillips had told them apart from cutting the ship's engine power to while he had been captured by the pirates themselves. Even if Phillips had tried to negotiate with the pirates, they were insistent on wanting to head for the engine room.
What happened in the film is actually based on the real-life events of the MV Marsek Alabama hijacking in 2009, the first time an American cargo ship had been hijacked in two hundred years. But it is also based on the experiences of experienced ship captain Richard Phillips who captained MV Marsek Alabama when it was hijacked from his book 'A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea'.
What took place in the film may look dry at times to the viewer who may not be familiar with the workings of the maritime industry, but it helps to shed light to the challenge which has always plague the industry when it comes to piracy on the seas especially off the Somali coast. But what happened in the film is a reminder of how it can turn into a matter of between life and death, where it was exemplified by Tom Hanks's character. For how he did in the film is something recommended and worth the watch, alongside with the man who played the leader of the pirates in Barkhad Adi.