Claim:  A forwarded email that blames President Obama   for delays in the rescue of Richard Phillips, the captain of the ship   named the Maersk Alabama, which was taken over by pirates off the coast   of the African country of Somalia. It claims that Obama delayed the   deployment of Navy Seals by 36 hours and limited the rules of engagement   so the rescuers could not act unless Captain Phillips’ life was imminent   danger.      
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Richard Phillips (merchant mariner)
text: of the port of Mombasa. On Saturday, April 11, "Maersk Alabama" arrived in Mombasa, still under U.S. military escort. Captain Larry Aasheim then assumed command. Aasheim had previously been captain of the " Maersk Alabama" until Richard Phillips relieved him eight days prior to the pirate attack. An 18-man marine security team was on board. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation secured the ship as a crime scene. On April 9, a standoff began between the "Bainbridge" and the pirates in the "Maersk Alabama"s lifeboat, where they continued to hold Phillips hostage. Three days later, on Sunday, April 12, U.S.

title: Richard Phillips (merchant mariner)
text: "Bainbridge" and speaking with military negotiators while being treated for an injury sustained in the takeover of "Maersk Alabama", surrendered and was taken into custody. He later pleaded guilty to hijacking, kidnapping and hostage-taking charges and was sentenced to over 33 years in prison. Following the hijacking, Phillips published "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea". Columbia Pictures optioned the book and acquired the film rights in spring 2010. In March 2011, it was announced that Tom Hanks would star as Phillips, Barkhad Abdi as Abduwali Muse and Faysal Ahmed as Najee in a Sony

title: MV Tygra
text: pirate, whom they had kept tied up for twelve hours, for Captain Phillips. The captured pirate was released but the pirates refused to release Phillips in exchange. Since the battery had died on the open-air boat, they left in the ship's covered lifeboat, taking Phillips with them. The lifeboat carried ten days of food rations, water and basic survival supplies. On April 8, the destroyer and the frigate were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to a hostage situation, and reached "Maersk Alabama" early on April 9. "Maersk Alabama" then departed from the area with an armed escort,

title: Maersk
text: to deal with a situation in which Americans were aboard a ship seized by pirates in over 200 years. By noon, the Americans were able to resist the pirates and regain control of the ship. However, the pirates retreated on a covered life boat and held the captain hostage for four days. On April 12, 2009, it was confirmed that the captain held hostage was freed by the US Navy, whose SEAL sharpshooters killed three of the pirates. A fourth pirate surrendered earlier due to a medical injury. These events were subsequently dramatized in the 2013 film "Captain Phillips", directed

title: Maersk Alabama hijacking
text: in a week to be attacked by pirates who had previously extorted ransoms in the tens of millions of dollars. The story of the incident was reported in the 2010 book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea" by Stephan Talty and Captain Richard Phillips, who had been master of the vessel at the time of the incident. The hijacking also inspired the 2013 film "Captain Phillips" starring Tom Hanks. The ship, originating from Salalah, Oman was bound for Mombasa, Kenya after a stop in Djibouti with a crew of 23, loaded with of cargo.

title: Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration
text: ordered the U.S. military to conduct a rescue mission to free Phillips who was held hostage by the pirates for five days. He was rescued on April 12, 2009 by United States Navy SEALs who killed three pirates and obtained the surrender of a fourth, Abduwali Muse. The Obama administration's reaction and response to the kidnapping of Phillips had been commended as well as criticized, while others downplay his role in the rescue of Richard Phillips. In 2014, Obama sought to increase operations in the Horn region in response to the Westgate mall attack in Kenya. A taskforce for the

title: Maersk Alabama hijacking
text: not afraid of the Americans. We will defend ourselves if attacked", one of the pirates told Reuters by satellite phone. Phillips' family had gathered at his farmhouse in Vermont awaiting a resolution to the situation. On Saturday, 11 April 2009, "Maersk Alabama" arrived in the port of Mombasa, Kenya, under U.S. military escort. An 18-man security team was on board. The FBI then secured the ship as a crime scene. Commander Frank Castellano, the commanding officer of "Bainbridge", stated that as the winds picked up, tensions rose among the pirates and "we calmed them" and persuaded the pirates to be

title: A Captain's Duty
text: A Captain's Duty A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea is a book by Captain Richard Phillips, the captain of the container ship MV "Maersk Alabama" when it was hijacked in 2009. It was written with Stephan Talty and published by Hyperion on April 6, 2010 (and on audio by Tantor). The book tells the story of Phillips' capture and hostage-taking by Somali pirates in April 2009. It alternates between his five-day ordeal and the plight of his family in Vermont, watching the drama unfold on cable news. ABC News reported that the publication of

title: Maersk Alabama hijacking
text: towed by the destroyer. On Sunday, 12 April 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Snipers of Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) Red Squadron ("The Tribe") armed with semi-automatic Knights Armament Company Mk.11 Mod 0 (7.62-51mm NATO) Sniper Rifles, engaged and killed the three pirates on the lifeboat. Captain Phillips was rescued uninjured. Commander Castellano, with prior authorization from higher authority, ordered the action after determining Phillips' life was in immediate danger, citing reports that a pirate was pointing an AK-47 rifle at Phillips' back. Navy SEAL snipers, from SEAL Team Six, fired approximately 6-7 shots from "Bainbridge"s fantail, killing the three

title: Richard Phillips (merchant mariner)
text: man-overboard boat, but it would not start, so the crew dropped a lifeboat and met the pirates to switch prisoners and boats. The captured pirate was released, but the pirates left with Phillips in the lifeboat before the crew could take action. The lifeboat was carrying ten days of food rations, water, and basic survival supplies. On April 8, the destroyer and the frigate were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to the hostage situation, and reached "Maersk Alabama" early on April 9. "Maersk Alabama" then departed from the area with an armed escort, towards its original destination

title: Maersk Alabama hijacking
text: overheated secure room for hours, the crew attempted to exchange the pirate whom they had captured for the captain, but the exchange went awry and the pirates refused to honor the agreement after the crew released their captive. Captain Phillips escorted the pirates to a lifeboat to show them how to operate it, but then the pirates fled in the lifeboat with Phillips as a hostage. On 8 April the United States Navy guided-missile destroyer and the guided-missile frigate were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in response to the hostage situation, "Halyburton" carrying two Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk helicopters on

title: Maersk Alabama hijacking
text: but was recaptured after the captors fired shots. The pirates then threw a phone and a two-way radio dropped to them by the U.S. Navy into the ocean, fearing the Americans were somehow using the equipment to give instructions to the captain. The United States dispatched another warship, amphibious assault ship LHD-4, to the site off the Horn of Africa. The pirates' strategy was to link up with their comrades, who were holding various other hostages, and to get Phillips to Somalia where they could hide him and make a rescue more difficult for the Americans. Anchoring near shore would

title: Richard Phillips (merchant mariner)
text: portrayal of Phillips, with several crew members claiming that he was not the hero presented in the film, according to lawsuits filed by more than half of the crew of the Maersk Alabama. The crew members claim Phillips was at least partly at fault for an "insistence on being fast and making money ... [getting] the Alabama within 250 miles of the Somali coast..." Phillips told CNN's Drew Griffin in 2010 and in a court deposition in 2013 that he ignored the numerous warnings that urged him to go farther out to sea. When asked in 2013 why he decided

title: Piracy off the coast of Somalia
text: supplies bound for Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya. On 12 April 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL snipers killed the three pirates that were holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage aboard a lifeboat from "Maersk Alabama" after determining that Captain Phillips' life was in immediate danger. A fourth pirate, Abdul Wali Muse, surrendered and was taken into custody. On 18 May, a federal grand jury in New York returned a 10-count indictment against him. On 20 April 2009, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented on the capture and release of seven Somali pirates by Dutch Naval forces who were on a NATO

title: MV Tygra
text: which Captain Phillips was held hostage is now on display at the National Navy SEAL Museum in Ft. Pierce, FL. An example of the Scan Eagle UAV used to monitor the crisis is also on display. At 6:30 am on November 18, 2009, "Maersk Alabama" was reportedly sailing some east of Somalia when she was fired upon by four pirates wielding automatic weapons and traveling in a skiff. The assault failed after guards on the ship responded with small arms fire and acoustical weapons. Afterward, a Djibouti-based patrol plane flew to the scene and an EU ship searched the area.

title: Captain Phillips (film)
text: he and First Officer Shane Murphy order strict security precautions on the vessel and carry out practice drills. During a drill, the vessel is chased by Somali pirates in two skiffs, and Phillips calls for help. Knowing that the pirates are listening to radio traffic, he pretends to call a warship, requesting immediate air support. One skiff turns around in response, and the other – manned by four heavily armed pirates led by Abduwali Muse – loses engine power trying to steer through "Maersk Alabama"s wake. The next day, Muses skiff, now fitted with two outboard engines, returns with the

title: Richard Phillips (merchant mariner)
text: Richard Phillips (merchant mariner) Richard Phillips (born May 16, 1955) is an American merchant mariner and author who served as captain of the MV "Maersk Alabama" during its hijacking by Somali pirates in April 2009. Phillips was born in Massachusetts, and graduated from Winchester High School in 1973. Phillips enrolled at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and planned to study international law but transferred to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, from which he graduated in 1979. During his schooling, Phillips worked as a taxi driver in Boston. On April 7, 2009, the U.S. Maritime Administration, following NATO advisories, released a Somalia

title: MV Tygra
text: hold Captain Phillips hostage. Three days later, on Sunday, April 12, Navy marksmen opened fire and killed the three pirates on the lifeboat, and Phillips was rescued in good condition. "Bainbridge" captain Commander Frank Castellano, with prior authorization from U.S. President Barack Obama, ordered the action after determining that Phillips' life was in immediate danger, based on reports that a pirate was pointing an AK-47 assault rifle at his back. U.S. Navy SEAL snipers on "Bainbridge"'s fantail opened fire, killing the three pirates with bullets to the head, one of whom was named Ali Aden Elmi, another whose last name

title: MV Tygra
text: towards her original destination in Mombasa, Kenya, with the vessel's Chief Mate Shane Murphy in charge. On Saturday, April 11, "Maersk Alabama" arrived in the port of Mombasa, Kenya, still under U.S. military escort, where C/M Murphy was relieved by Captain Larry Aasheim, who had previously been captain of " Maersk Alabama" until Richard Phillips relieved him eight days prior to the pirate attack. An 18-man marine security team was on board. The FBI secured the ship as a crime scene. On April 9, a standoff began between "Bainbridge" and the pirates in "Maersk Alabama's" lifeboat, where they continued to

title: Maersk Alabama hijacking
text: board. The ships reached "Maersk Alabama" early on 9 April. "Maersk Alabama" was then escorted from the scene to its original destination of Mombasa where Captain Larry D. Aasheim took command of the ship. Phillips had relieved Aasheim nine days earlier. CNN and Fox News quoted sources stating that the pirates' strategy was to await the arrival of additional hijacked vessels carrying more pirates and additional hostages to use as human shields. A stand-off began on 9 April between "Bainbridge", "Halyburton", and the pirates' lifeboat from "Maersk Alabama", on which they held Phillips hostage. The lifeboat itself was covered and