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Author Talk: ‘Captain’s Duty’
CAPTAIN RICHARD PHILLIPS wrote A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea to tell the story of offering himself as a hostage to Somali pirates to save his crew. A tale of adventure and courage, Captain Phillips provides the intimate details of this high-seas hostage-taking: the unbearable heat, the death threats, the mock executions, and the escape attempt. In this conversation, Captain Phillips tells the life-and-death drama of the Vermont native who was held captive on a tiny lifeboat off Somalia's anarchic, gun-plagued shores.
Strength & Adaptability
CAPTAIN RICHARD PHILLIPS shares the approach to unforeseen circumstances he used to successfully navigate the first hijacking of a U.S. ship in more than 200 years in this engaging presentation on common purpose and shared goals. Captain Phillips’ speeches focus on courage, endurance, leadership, and heroism with an emphasis on the importance of teamwork through adversity.
Captain Richard Phillips receives rave reviews from happy hosts
From U.S. college campuses to international economic forums, CAPTAIN RICHARD PHILLIPS has been inspiring audiences with his powerful leadership and transformative decision-making when faced with tremendous obstacles. Consistently praised as both a riveting and approachable speaker, Captain Phillips forges relationships with attendees everywhere he speaks, going above and beyond event planners' expectations. Here’s what hosts have to say:
Watch Captain Richard Phillips speak at the VCIA Annual Conference >>
Captain Richard Phillips speaks on strength & adaptability
CAPTAIN RICHARD PHILLIPS authored A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea to detail his experience as a hostage to Somali pirates for five days. This dramatic story was also transformed into an Academy-Award and Golden-Globe nominated film, Captain Phillips, wherein Captain Phillips himself was played by Tom Hanks. An inspiring story of true heroism, Captain Phillip enriches the narrative experience by sharing the amazing true tales and valuable lessons beyond the film.
Watch Captain Richard Phillips speak at the VCIA Annual Conference >>
For five days in April 2009, Captain Richard Phillips became the center of an extraordinary international drama when he was captured by Somali pirates who attacked and boarded his ship.
The hostage began on Wednesday, April 8, when a small band of pirates swung a ladder from their skiff onto the Maersk Alabama, a container ship ferrying food aid to East Africa. With the pirates firing at the vessel’s bridge as they climbed aboard the ship, many of the crew members scrambled into a designated safe room aboard the vessel.
On the bridge, the pirates held three and then four sailors at gunpoint, but the crew of 18 outnumbered the four attackers. The crew managed to take the leader of the pirates hostage, wounding him in the hand with a knife and regained control. The crew demanded the other pirates leave the ship, But the pirates had scuttled their own small boat. They demanded an escape boat, fuel, and food.
To protect his crew, Captain Phillips made a conscious decision to put himself directly in harm's way, knowing full well that he might pay the ultimate price for his decision. Amid the standoff, he offered himself as a hostage to get them off the Maersk Alabama.
Once the pirates settled into one of the ship's covered lifeboats, the crew attempted to trade the pirate they had captured for Captain Phillips. After they released their captive, the pirates refused to honor the agreement and fled with Captain Phillips. Held hostage as a human shield in a small lifeboat with three pirates, he had little to hope for or cling to—except the knowledge that he had done absolutely everything he could to save the lives of the 18 sailors aboard his ship.
The U.S. Navy responded to the scene, and negotiations were ongoing between the pirates and the captain of the USS Bainbridge. On Friday, April 10, Captain Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat and managed to swim toward the nearby destroyer,
but the pirates went in after him and managed to haul him back in. The standoff dragged on until April 12, when Navy SEAL snipers saw one of the pirates aim his AK-47 machine gun at Capt. Richard Phillips's back and concluded he was in “imminent danger.”
On that Sunday morning, Navy SEAL snipers took three remarkable shots and hit the three captors holding Captain Phillips. Within minutes, rescuers were on scene and Phillips was rescued off the lifeboat, and the three pirates were dead. They then freed Captain Phillips, ending the sea drama that had gathered much of the world’s attention for many days.
President Barack Obama, who spoke with Captain Phillips by phone after he was freed, said, "I share the country's admiration for the bravery of Captain Phillips and his selfless concern for his crew. His courage is a model for all Americans."
Captain Phillips is the author of A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirate, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, the story of his experience and his remarkable rescue. This dramatic story is also being made into a motion picture by Columbia Pictures.
Captain Phillips is a graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, a member of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots Union, and a licensed American merchant mariner. He became Captain of the MV Maersk Alabama in 2008. Captain Phillips married Andrea Coggio in 1987. They have two children, Mariah and Danny, and reside in Underhill, Vt.
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