Richard Phillips’ "A Captain’s Duty" – A Compelling Read!

I was at a branch of B&N tonight as the boxes of a fresh, new book, A Captain’s Duty, by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty (Hyperion Press) were being unpacked. Phillips has become a popular guest on radio programs this week. (WNYC, Leonard Lopate tomorrow, Thursday afternoon FYI). I had heard Phillips interviewed on NPR before I left for B&N, and to my surprise I had completely stopped my usual "multi-tasking" and was sitting riveted, hanging onto his every word.

Flipping through the book later, it did not disappoint. He is an intrepid, hard working, well-respected career Merchant Mariner … a captain .. who is now one of many vulnerable sea people in the million square miles of ocean off the coast of Africa vulnerable to pirating. These days, one small skiff with its sophisticated weaponry can easily overcome a ship. In 1991 the government of Somalia collapsed. There was mass starvation. Pirating subsequently began to thrive with a number of ambitious and lawless youth. In 2008 alone, pirates garnered $120 million for overtaking ships and crews and charging exorbitant ransoms.

One band of pirates incredibly meet their match with Captain Phillips, who dramatically relates his harrowing experience. Phillips offered himself up as a hostage in exchange for the safety of his crew. He endures a constantly life-threatening five day stand off and at one point nearly escapes. This enrages the pirates so much they intensify their cruelty toward him. He pits his will against theirs. His courage and his wit are dazzling.

Not a long book -- a fast and exciting read. Phillips is quite droll. He shares a harrowing narrative while sprinkling in an entertaining and educational commentary ranging from his history in joining up, to general knowledge about sea faring, even to what time of day is best for pirating (before sunrise or after sunset to take advantage of reduced visibility). He offers wonderful, self-deprecating asides such as “Mark Twain said that going to sea is like going to jail with a chance of drowning.”

He has a powerful way of delivering a clear overview of circumstances. His assessment of the threat to himself, his crew and ship while in the Somalian area:

The pirates were approaching and attacking each and every kind of vessel that ventured around the Horn of Africa: tankers, fishing schooners, even luxury cruise ships. Nothing was safe out there. There were so many ships flying down the coast of East Africa, you needed to hope you weren’t one of the unlucky ones to see a few pirate boats pop up on your radar. When you saw them, you had very few ways of preventing an attack: speed, fire hoses, and deception were pretty much your only tools. The Somalians had automatic weapons, speed boats, rocket propelled grenades and a reputation for complete ruthlessness.

It was like a lion and a herd of wildebeests on the African plain. You just hoped there was safety in numbers. If the lion chose you, you were going to have a very, very bad day. And just as the lion looks for weakness -- the slow, the lame, the young – pirates zeroed in on ships that looked defenseless. (p. 61)

He also shares very moving, sometimes chilling, observations of parts of the world he has encountered during his travels.

I’d been to Sierra Leone during the Civil War and watched people waving from the shoreline. You could see that their right hands had been chopped off by the rebels because they’d voted. (p. 75)

When Captain Phillips’ ship early on was being stalked by a pirate skiff he called it in to a British governmental contact, and the dispatcher minimized the dire situation by saying, “.. a lot of captains are nervous out there.” Phillips thought to himself “I’m not the nervous type” and hung up. That is an understatement. His radio interviewer today asked him if he was vulnerable to the Stockholm Syndrome at any point. Not this man. Not with this group of sociopaths.

Hearing about a strong, determined, principled American hero is so inspiring, especially at a time when many of our "official" leaders have marshmallow vertebrae when it comes to sacred duty and honor.

Phillips at one point puts in a pitch for Merchant Marine vets who deserve belated compensation after World War II. He also points out, with all the big money transactions for pirate ransoms, the sailors most at risk are not part of any rewards from all the high sums being distributed to pirates and corporate negotiators.

Truth to power, Captain Phillips, whether to a pirate with an AK-47 or inequitable military, government or corporate trading system!

[cross-posted http://www.correntewire.com/richard_phillips%E2%80%99_captain%E2%80%99s_... ]