Hero skipper ignored pirate warnings, crew says

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CNN

RIVERVIEW, Florida (CNN) -- The captain of the container ship Maersk Alabama ignored explicit warnings to stay well off the coast of Somalia before his capture by pirates in 2009, according to 16 of its 19 crew members.

"It's almost like he wanted to be captured," the ship's chief engineer, Mike Perry, told CNN in an interview to air on tonight's "AC360."

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The 16 crew members have been far less public about the events, even as Phillips toured the country this spring to promote his book, "A Captain's Duty." But now they are telling a different version of what took place in the waters off the Somali coast in early April 2009.

Perry, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, was the chief engineer aboard the Alabama as it sailed from Oman, in the Persian Gulf, to Mombasa, Kenya, with a cargo of relief supplies. He told CNN Correspondent Drew Griffin that Phillips' decision "certainly warrants an investigation."

"I just want an investigation, for this to be looked at properly before that man winds up going back to sea on another ship and endangering somebody," Perry said.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/21/siu.phillips.pirates/

[Lagomorph]

1. I would think 240 miles is a long way from the coast...

According to the wiki:

"The crew soon used "brute force" to retake control of the ship, as Chief Engineer Mike Perry, brandishing a knife tackled the ringleader of the pirates and took him prisoner after a cat and mouse chase in a darkened engine room.<6> Chief Perry had initially taken main engine control away from the bridge and 1st A/E Matt Fisher took control of the steering gear. Once the pirates captured Capt. Phillips and several other crewmembers minutes after boarding, they found that they could not control the ship. Chief Perry then shut down all ship systems and the entire vessel "went black." When the pirate alarm had sounded earlier, Chief Perry had brought 14 members of the crew into a "secure room" that the engineers had been in the process of fortifying for just such a purpose. Chief Perry remained outside the secure room lying in wait, knife in hand, for a visit from the pirates who were trying to locate the missing crewmembers in order to gain control of the ship and presumably sail it to Somalia. The crew had seized the ringleader of the pirates, creating a sense of unease for the three remaining Somali intruders. The crew attempted to trade the pirate they had captured <9> for the captain, but the exchange went awry and after the crew released their captive, the pirates refused to honor the agreement. They fled in one of the ship's covered lifeboats with nine days of food rations and took Capt. Phillips with them."

The guy sounds like Rambo.

[HooptieWagon]

2. "The guy sounds like Rambo."

20 years Navy as an engineer... I'd say the guy IS Rambo.

[Lagomorph]

6. You're right...

the guy certainly knows his way around a tool box and an arms room.

[happyslug]

7. Not when everyone is saying stay at least 600 miles from the coast.

Read the article, it clearly says that ALL ships in the area received several general warnings AND Phillips received a warning DIRECTLY to stay at least 600 miles from the coast. These reports were based on British and US intelligence reports. In simple terms even the US and British Navies had already determined that 600 miles was TO CLOSE, thus 240 miles is clearly to close.

[Chulanowa]

3. Ninja will always beat pirate

[depakid]

4. Muggers too every now and then:

He looked like an easy target: a medical student sitting alone on a late-night train.

The three men sidled up to the German student and told him to hand over his wallet. When he refused, they followed him off the train, trailing him as he walked past the hotel and pizza joint on Bringelly Road, Kingswood, in the city's west. When the student, who has asked not to be identified, turned down a dimly lit alley his pursuers thought their moment had come.

It had, but not in quite the way they expected. The men tripped the 27-year-old student, kicking him as he lay on the ground and grabbing his mobile phone and iPod. What the assailants did not realise was that they were standing outside Ninja Senshi Ryu - western Sydney's ninja martial arts school. They also failed to notice a ninja, Nathan Smith, standing in the shadows outside the dojo. Mr Smith immediately alerted his sensei, or teacher.

Kaylan Soto, a sensei with 30 years' Ninjutsu training, and three of his students raced out of the dojo towards the startled attackers. All five crusaders were clad in the ninja's traditional, all black uniform. ''We would have been just a silhouette,'' one of the ninjas, Steve Ashley, said. ''It was probably the worst place in Sydney where they could have taken him.''

Mr Soto said it took the three assailants a few moments to realise what was going on. When they did, they shot off. ''You should have seen their faces when they saw us in ninja gear coming towards them,'' he said.

More: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/men-in-black-are-the-white-knights-of-the-night-20100519-vfc5.html

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. That reminds me of THIS video:

Pimp Gets Knocked Out By Karate Instructor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfLlGHV1dG4