Hero Captain Blamed for Pirate Attack

[DearAbby]

MONTPELIER, Vt. (Dec. 3) -- Richard Phillips, the ship captain toasted as a hero after he was taken captive by Somali pirates, ignored repeated warnings in the spring to keep his freighter at least 600 miles off the African coast because of the heightened risk of attack, some members of his crew now allege.

Records obtained by The Associated Press show that maritime safety groups issued at least seven such warnings in the days before outlaws boarded the Maersk Alabama about 380 miles off the shore of Somalia.

A piracy expert and the captain's second-in-command say Phillips had the prerogative to heed the warnings or not. But some crew members — including the chief engineer, the helmsman and the navigator — say he was negligent not to change course after learning of the pirate activity.

"If you go to the grocery store and eight people get mugged on that street, wouldn't you go a different way?" said the ship's navigator, Ken Quinn, of Tampa, Fla.

Sailing beyond the 600-mile threshold would have added more than a day to the Alabama's voyage to Mombasa, Kenya, and used extra fuel, according to the ship's previous captain, who said Phillips had years of experience sailing in those dangerous waters.

Four of the 20 crew members told the AP that they blame Phillips for the hijacking.
"He caused this, and we all know it," said chief engineer Mike Perry of Riverview, Fla. "All the Alabama crew knows about it."


More at link:
http://news.aol.com/article/maersk-alabama-crew-blames-captain/797284?icid=main

[Codeine]

1. What bullshit.

You don't let thugs dictate where you can or cannot go.

[spanone]

2. so, you would sleep in central park at night?

[anonymous171]

5. If I did and I was mudered, would that make my murder just?

And undeserving of police investigation?

[spanone]

6. of course not, but if you were told not to sleep there, you might be real stupid

[Tim01]

3. Arm the ships.

I don't really like criminals deciding where non criminals can go or not.
If the pirates want to attack, let the ships blow them out of the water. Play by the pirates rules until the pirates stop bringing violence on innocent people.

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. Here are some ideas that are being considered:

http://dvice.com/archives/2009/11/transforming-oi.php

A couple of them are already in use.

[Merchant Marine]

10. All useless

Too much tech and too manpower intensive. Only the electric fence would be cost effective. The second attack on the Maersk Alabama proved that the best defense is a small team of security contractors with rifles. They provide the smallcraft lookout the ship's crew cannot perform on their own, and when pirates approach they have the firepower to scare them off. Compared to training or expanding the ship's crew to man "non-lethal" devices it is the best option.

[Are_grits_groceries]

12. I thought a lot of them were way too

involved to use. However, some ships are using LRAD.

[Vinnie From Indy]

7. 380 miles out seems like a very long distance out from shore for a rubber boat

[Blue_Tires]

8. the pirates use bigger 'mother' boats

that look like conventional fishing/shipping/whatever and they launch the speeders for the attack when they are close enough...

[Blue_Tires]

9. I wonder if Phillips had a company order saying in so many words

"pirates or no, you WILL get there on time!"

just wondering...

[Merchant Marine]

11. The classic dilemma of the merchant captain

The deadline is set in stone, but your ETA lags behind. What corners can be cut to keep your job?

[Canuckistanian]

13. Right, and he's trying to save fuel, too

It would be cheaper to sail right though the "danger zones" rather than to alter course, adding hundreds of kilometers to the trip.