From the New York Post:
Crew members: �Captain Phillips� is one big lieThere is a lot more at the site including this little tid-bit:
It�s made for Hollywood: the story of an average American family man, captain of a cargo ship in dangerous waters, his vessel overtaken by armed Somali pirates demanding ransom, saving his crew by allowing himself to be removed from the boat and taken hostage.
All of this is the basis for �Captain Phillips,� starring Tom Hanks as the titular, real-life hero. The only problem, say some members of the real Capt. Phillips� crew, is none of it is true.
Capt. Richard Phillips, they say, is no hero, and the film is one big lie.
�Phillips wasn�t the big leader like he is in the movie,� says one crew member, who, for legal reasons, spoke with The Post anonymously. He worked very closely with Phillips on the Maersk Alabama and was alarmed by his behavior from the beginning. Phillips, he says, had a bad reputation for at least 12 years prior, known as a sullen and self-righteous captain.
�No one wants to sail with him,� he says.
After the hijacking, 11 crew members have sued Maersk Line and the Waterman Steamship Corp. for almost $50 million, alleging �willful, wanton and conscious disregard for their safety.� Phillips is a witness for the defense.
�The crew had begged Captain Phillips not to go so close to the Somali coast,� said Deborah Waters, the attorney who brought the claim. �He told them he wouldn�t let pirates scare him or force him to sail away from the coast.�
Not all of the crew cooperated with the movie, and those who did were paid as little as $5,000 for their life rights by Sony and made to sign nondisclosure agreements � meaning they can never speak publicly about what really happened on that ship.I am sure that additional books are being written and the outcome of the trial will shed a lot of light on these allegations. Brings to mind the old saying that our appearance of careful management is just a careful management of appearances...
