Captain Phillips' Story, Movie Is 'One Big Lie,' Says Real Ship Crew
Despite being in theaters for only five days, Captain Phillips has already earned buzz about actor Tom Hanks getting nominated for a Best Actor Oscar at the 2014 ceremony.
However, according to a recent interview published in New York Post, Hanks' performance does not credibly depict what really happened on the Maersk Alabama in 2009. Crew members who gave an anonymous interview to the publication said the real Captain Phillips wasn't a hero at all.
"Phillips wasn't the big leader like he is in the movie," said one source who was on the ship. "No one wants to sail with him."
Hanks portrays Captain Richard Phillips, who is depicted as a hero in the film for sacrificing himself to Somali Pirates in order to save his ship's crew. According to Deborah Waters, an attorney who is representing 11 crew members who are now suing Maersk Line and Waterman Steamship Corp. for $50 million, the real Phillips knew the real danger of sailing where he did, but did nothing about it.
"The crew had begged Captain Phillips not to go so close to the Somali coast," she said. "He told them he wouldn't let pirates scare him or force him to sail away from the coast."
The crew members claim that in the three-week period prior to their ordeal pirates attacked 16 container ships in the same region with eight taken hostage, prompting an anti-piracy plan enforced by the International Maritime Organization. The plan stated that is pirates got too close to the ship, the crew should cut the lights and power and lock themselves below deck.
Crew members allege that Phillips did not perform the safety drill, and as pirates descended upon them, made them continue practicing a fire drill instead.
"He didn't want anything to do with it, because it wasn't in his plan. He was real arrogant," a crew member said.
"We said, 'You want us to knock it off and go to our pirate stations?' And he goes, ' Oh, no, no, no-you've got to do the lifeboats drill.' This is how screwed up he is. These are drills we need to do once a year. Two boats with pirates and he doesn't give a s-t. That's the kind of guy he is."
Phillips admitted in the past that ships were expected to move an additional 600 miles off shore during the increased numbers of attacks, though published reports had the ship at only 240 miles off the coast.
Phillips recently appeared with Tom Hanks on the cover of Parade magazine's September 22 isue with the headline "The Making of an American Hero." The film pulled in an estimated $25 million only from its opening weekend.
