Buried in an LA Times Entertainment section article about two dead former Navy Seals is some interesting news about the Maersk Alabama, the ship that was attacked by Somali pirates (not pictured above) in 2009 and featured in the movie “Captain Phillips.” In the last paragraph of the article, it’s casually mentioned that the same ship was attacked three more times in the next two years . . .
From the LA Times:
But while Phillips’ story — and by extension, “Captain Phillips” — had a happy ending, the Maersk Alabama has not been so fortunate, facing further pirate assaults in recent years. The ship was attacked a second time in 2009, again in 2010 and yet again in 2011. Each time, though, the assailants were repelled by armed security forces.
So the ship went from being defenseless in early 2009 to having armed guards ready and able to repel sea-faring marauders. In the first instance, the ship is taken over and the captain taken hostage, requiring the U.S. military to intervene. That, of course, famously concluded with the the pirates being dispatched and the rescue of Captain Phillips.
In the next three situations, the armed guards repelled the pirates before they could board the ship. A better result for everyone concerned (except, of course, the pirates). Funny that we end up reading news like this about successful armed self defense in the Entertainment section of a paper discussing the movie made about the original incident.
(H/T David Codrea)
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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