The movie entitled CAPT PHILIPS is a true story of Captain Richard Philips who was commanding

a United States flagged, MV Maersk Alabama which was the first American cargo ship to be
hijacked by Somali pirates in two hundred years.
The movie started when Captain Philips was ordered to command and sail the MV Maersk
Alabama, an unarmed cargo ship from the Port of Salalah in Oman to Mombasa, Kenya. Part of
MV Maersk Alabama’s voyage plan was to travel down the coalition corridor to Djibouti and exit
to the South of Socotra in Guardafui Channel which was at the Horn of Africa. Aware of pirate
activities in said area, Captain Philips ordered to tighten the security within the ship and conducted
security drills to ensure that his crew is ready to defend their ship in any case that MV Maersk
Alabama encounters pirate attacks while underway.
While they were preparing for security drills, two (2) skiffs with armed Somali pirates onboard
were following the MV Maersk Alabama. Captain Philips immediately ordered his crew to man
their stations and perform series of maneuvering procedures to stay away from the skiffs. He
ordered his First Officer, Shane Murphy to call the US Maritime Emergency Line but can’t get
thru. Fortunately, they were able to reach and report said incident to UK Maritime Trade
Operations however, the incident was treated very lightly. After Captain Philips pretended to call
a warship, they successfully escaped said attack.
On the next day, same skiff manned with armed Somali pirates once again chased the MV Maersk
Alabama. In this attack, the Somali pirates successfully boarded the ship.
In my own opinion, said incident could have been avoided if the ship has armed guards onboard
or at least the crews are armed with firearms and the ship with armaments to defend themselves
and the ship from these kinds of attacks. Before they left from Oman enroute to Mombasa, they
were already aware that they will be passing down the Somali Basin, this could have been a way
for them to plan and prepare their security measures. Another flaw that I have noticed was the
crew of MV Maersk Alabama, were not prepared for these kinds of attacks. They were very
relaxed before the attacks which I think should not be the case. Since they already know the
possibilities of encountering pirates in said waters, they should have at least be prepared.
Moreover, after the first attack, Captain Philipps should have immediately called the US Maritime
Emergency Line to report and asked for assistance and protection. I think that Captain Philips
was very confident with the ships capability which made him forget to call for help. I also noticed
that the pirates were able to hear the ship’s traffic over the radio, after the first attack they should
have changed the channel in order for them to avoid and prevent the said encounter to happen
again.
Overall, this movie showed the flaws on security which then gave us lessons to strengthen the
maritime security in our country.