captain phillips the film

[j.sabourn]

Rob I didnt really take too much notice of detail on this film was one of the reasons I suppose I kept on loosing interest in and going back to later. I find that Hollywood the same as media releases and other similar groups do not adhere to the truth, and most who have had dealings with will have a similar viewpoint. This is probably why they inserted in the film the slightly disgruntled seafarers comment re the unions to get the viewers sympathy. Any master who voluntary and puposefully puts his crew in danger is at fault. I think it was last year that some so called captain of a small jack up in I think the gulf of new orleans was referring to an Australian master of an offshore vessel attending the platform , of leaving them behind and running for shelter. I read between the lines of this one and wrote to the company saying that on the face of the information put out by the media, that the master was quite correct in his actions. It was another money claim and I beleive the master was aquitted of all blame later. Which was as far as I am concerned was the correct result. The press manipulates the truth to its own benefit, this is how they make their living, the same applies to film makers, they are for entertainment only and not for historical facts. Cheers John S

[robpage]

I watched it out of boredom , and was not greatly impressed with the story line , how far from reality that ws I have not a clue , I note Ivans comments on reactions whilst having a gun barrel next to your head , but the story and the facts , show the engineers , shut off the power and in the off engine room space , they were exhausted after lying a few hours in the 50 degree heat because the ventilation was off , hould have tried sleeping in the 4th Engineers cabin on the King Arthur , it was like that most nights . But after capturing the rebel leader , they negotiated a swap for Phillips , and gave over the rebel leader before securing the safe return of Phillips , The clue was they are Pirates , they might tell lies , you have their leader , so hand him back and hope the pirates keep their word , how clever was that ?.

[Ivan Cloherty]

As far as I understand it from the American Press and Maritime sources, Capt Phillips was advised by Naval Forces monitoring that area that it would be unwise to go inside certain longitudes in various places enroute to the next port. Apparently he disregarded this 'advice' and set a course normally he followed which brought him within the advised danger zones, it is because of this that he is being pursued in the courts, the claimants include a navigator who had access to the warnings and naturally the course of the vessel. Capt Phillips they allege thought his vessel was too big to be affected by pirates in skiffs, again as said before does't matter how big you are, as long as the little guy has his finger on the trigger of the correct weapon. You thought that maybe the gung ho large atlantic boys would have learnt something after being beaten by those 'skinny' little Vietnamise with minimum fire power and bamboo stakes. The bigger you are the better target you make

[John Pruden]

he is being sued by some of the crew he was over 200 miles inside the danger zone???my best mates son ex marine commando works for the protection company and the somali's have tried a few times to board but no success veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan he want's to get a one on one with a pirate he wants to take him with the knife? as regards the film Maersk were looking for extras for the film my son who has a good job with Maersk wanted to put me down for the film. but the health was not to good at the time{true} there are many things in the shipping industry that I cant put on the site for obvious reasons {it would put him and his job in jeopardy } jp

[moktay]

Comments copied from A US Merchant Marine Facebook page:
Benjamin Jones He did not get anyone out any nasty predicament. He gave away the location of the ships citadel and tried to order the crew to the bridge when the pirates were on board. As Issac said, it was Mike Perry who saved that ship and captured the pirate. Too bad the movie didn't show the heroic actions of the Cheng.
June 25 at 8:03am · Like · 4



Isaac Levine Yes. That is because the movie was based on a book he wrote. And sony paid most of the crew to never talk to the press about the actual events that took place. He is a discrace to the professional mariner community.

[robpage]

If I , sort off , quietly , unoffensivly , naturally mentioned that is is normally the Engineer gets the Old Man's ass out of the fire , I would get a lot of flack wouldn't I , so I will whisper it , It is the Engineers get you guys out of the sheets

[j.sabourn]

#13... Ivan think if I am correct in the early part of the film he is complaining to his wife about the modern trend of the younger go getter generation imposing their ideas of cutting corners, and thinking he was getting past it. Whats new?. This was inserted into the film probably as another loophole re. going into inadvisable areas. The same as the union man having his little protest. I also find it hard to beleive there were no hand fire arms on this ship, as being of U.S. origin and american crew who are well known for their love of guns and the liberty to carry such. As regards suing the man I have doubts they would be successful, as he was the master of the vessel and he is the man who decides, whatever some land based judge may think, he is also probably outside their jurisdiction. Would also have thought his main reasons for diregarding the advice ( which is advice only) was to save the company money re. fuel bills and the vessels planned voyage program so as to appear to be keeping up to speed with his younger counterparts which he mentions in the early part of the film. I dont think the man committed any crimes, some may think bad decisions, but there again you dont believe everything coming out of Hollywood. He probably played the situation as he saw it, and how close the film is to the actual occurence only he and the film makers will ever know. Cheers John S.

---------- Post added at 02:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:04 AM ----------

#16.... Rob as regards the Chief Engineer pulling someone out of it, I agree I have been pulled out of it a few times by same for different reasons. Also have been dropped in it by some others. In fact with the present day font of knowledge instilled into our present day seafarers and with all the Aids to navigation etc. I see no reason why the Chief Engineer should not assume the title of master. I have no doubt there are other masters who would like to not hold these reins of responsibility. They did try at one time to get dual certification, but in lots of cases certification is not an insurmountable problem anymore, there is really no reason why the title of Ch. Engineer should not be that of master also. It is only the old die hards in a quickly changing situation who hold fast and cling to this old belief. The shipowner would undoubtably relish the thought of being able to do this, in fact it is probably already on the cards that it will happen in the not too distant future. Cheers John S

[robpage]

Actually John , I would hope not , the Engineering profession often concentrates on the nuts and bolts , forgetting the whole , I prefer the status Quo , it is better to critisized from a distance , than , be on the very front line . I have been through many management changes as a senior manager in an FMCG company in the food sector , the accountant in charge is a nightmare , the engineer in charge wad not pleasant , the salesman in charge was interesting to say the least , and the Co-op managers would have been a joke if not such a disaster . I believe engineers are best placed advising , although knowing some of your past North Sea experiences , I expect you have heard a whole new engineering language that would have embarrassed Para Handy .

[j.sabourn]

#18... Actually my worse experience of Engineers is on a deep sea vessel, which unfortuanetley was the one I walked away from in Japan. Although I must say the complement of all as regards Engineers and mates and master did nothing to make the situation better. The voyage started off reasonably well, for the first couple of weeks, the first slide downwards was when the Egyptian 2nd. Mate went AWOL in the canal coming from Poland outward bound. Next the Ch.Eng from Sunderland was paid off in Singapore with suspected Cancer ( beleive he died out there. The second eng. of scottish extraction lived in aberdeen Hong Kong, was a homosexual who never came out of the closet. He went also in Singapore. Two new engineers of Indian nationality were placed on board and the Firemans cook promoted to 3rd. Engineer, cant remember having one before that. Of course we never had a 2nd. Mate to my recollection the 11 months I was there. The old man to my thinking was a complete imbecile. However too much to explain, the Engineers being the topic, their knowledge to my observations was neglible. They too were broken apart in Thailand as were trying to murder each other, and the chinese crew thought that was the best thing to happen to them. All the proper engineers I have sailed with have been of UK extraction. This also includes the North Sea, which still has many finely skilled marine engineers. Cheers John S

[robpage]

I might be biased but having sailed with a few different nationalities of Engineers ,
I believe e best are from the UK , and I still believe South Shields was the best training school , despite having to rig a single spar strumpet from time to time , her brother was an old. Sea cook out of runicimans I think , but he always took the cash for her