9781422277157

Huge shipping containers covered the deck of the Maersk Alabama as it headed to sea.

bandits with an eye on hijacking cargo vessels such as the Alabama . Still, Phillips tried to put on a stern face when the subject came up during the April 2009 voyage. “If you’re scared, Colin, you should never have gotten on this ship,” Phillips brusquely answered. The question, however, weighed on Phillips’ mind. He didn’t want the man’s fear infecting the other 22 crew members. “If Colin was terrified of ending up in a Somali boat, he should have worked that out with me before we sailed,” Phillips later wrote in his book A Captain’s Duty . “Being taken hostage was sort of a taboo subject among sailors. Anything—even a shipwreck—is better.” Later that night, April 8, 2009, it seemed as though Colin’s worst fear might be realized. At around 3:30 am , the phone rang in the captain’s cabin

7 7