The 2013 film Captain Phillips told the real-life story of the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking, which ended with Phillips being saved. In 2009, Captain Richard Phillips, played by Tom Hanks in the film, was the captain of the Maersk Alabama cargo ship that was targeted by Somali pirates, and Phillips was taken hostage by them. The incident was publicized as the first successful capture of a ship registered under the United States flag since the nineteenth century.

Phillips’ harrowing story of what he and his crew endured and their ultimate survival was first told in a 2010 book that Phillips co-wrote, titled A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea. The film’s screenplay was based on the book, with the adaptation going on to earn six Academy Award nominations. 11 years later, Captain Phillips‘ ending remains one of the most dramatic and tense conclusions of any film, which was further heightened by one of the best performances in Hanks’ career and the true story behind it.

How Captain Phillips & His Crew Were Saved

Captain Phillips, His Crew, & The U.S. Navy All Responded Bravely

Captain Phillips’ leadership and the resourcefulness of his crew drove the Somali pirates off the Maersk Alabama and prevented them from holding the cargo ship for long. As per Phillips’ orders, the majority of the crew hid from the Somali pirates and deactivated all the ship’s power, making it seem like it was dead in the water. When the pirates’ leader Abduwali Muse and fellow pirate Adan Bilal went to the engine room to restore the ship’s power, Bilal’s bare feet were badly cut by broken glass the crew left out to sabotage him, and the crew took Muse hostage.

Muse was only to be released to the pirates on the condition that they release Phillips and leave the Maersk Alabama in one of the ship’s motorized lifeboats. The pirates did leave the ship via a lifeboat, thus saving the crew. Soon after, they took Phillips with them as a hostage.

The U.S. Navy intervened by pursuing the lifeboat and was able to ultimately save Phillips after Muse exited the lifeboat and boarded the Navy’s ship under the promise that Somali clan elders were arriving to negotiate Phillips’ ransom. Muse’s right-hand man, Nour Najee, beat Phillips and had him tied up and blindfolded. Navy SEALs were able to shoot and kill Najee and the other two pirates still on the lifeboat by firing through its windows, thereby saving Phillips’ life.

Why Abduwali Muse Kidnapped Captain Phillips – The Pirates’ Plan Explained

Kidnapping Only Captain Phillips Wasn’t The Original Plan

Muse had been ordered to ransom the Maersk Alabama and its crew for millions of dollars. Despite the pirates’ initially successful seizure of the ship and being given $30,000 in cash from the ship’s safe, they were unable to follow through on their plan after the Maersk Alabama‘s crew took Muse hostage and held him at knifepoint. Unable to return to their bosses with a mere $30,000, kidnapping Phillips and ransoming him was their only hope of still walking away and returning to Somalia with the millions they intended to secure in the first place.

When Muse contacted his superiors, he was told to bring Phillips back to Somalia or not to return at all, and he later lost contact with the mother ship. The U.S. Navy conducted negotiations with Muse, emphasizing that no ransom money would be given if Phillips was harmed before he was turned over. Abandoned by their fellow Somali pirates and with the U.S. Navy on their heels, Muse was left with no viable choice but to agree to a negotiation he likely knew would not be honored.

How Long The Somali Pirates Took Captain Phillips & His Crew Hostage

The Incident Took Place Over 4 Days

The Maersk Alabama hijacking began on April 8, 2009. All the events aboard the cargo ship transpired on that day, including the pirates taking Phillips on the lifeboat, meaning the crew were only hostage to the pirates on April 8. By the following morning of April 9, two U.S. Navy vessels had arrived at the scene and pursued the lifeboat, determined to save Phillips and ensure that the pirates would not reach the Somali coast. The U.S. Navy reached the lifeboat by the night of April 9.

The standoff between the pirates and the U.S. Navy continued until April 12, when Phillips was finally saved. Part of the reason it took multiple days was because Navy Commander Frank Castellano determined that Navy SEALs would be needed to successfully eliminate the threat of the pirates and extract Phillips. The White House sent SEAL Team Six, but they needed to be flown in from Virginia, which was 8,000 miles away, and the SEALs then had to parachute into the ocean under the cover of darkness, so the pirates would not be alerted to their presence.

What Happened To Captain Phillips & Abduwali Muse After The Rescue

Phillips Returned Home And Later Back To Sea; Muse Is Still In Prison

Captain Phillips was reunited with his family when he returned to his home in Underhill, Vermont, on April 17, 2009, five days after being rescued. Along with Stephan Talty, he co-wrote the book that told the story of what happened to him and his crew during the Maersk Alabama hijacking, with the text serving as the source material for the 2013 Captain Phillips film. Phillips returned to sea and continued his work on a new vessel on July 25, 2010.

After the other pirates were killed and Phillips was saved, Muse was taken into custody and convicted of piracy. On February 16, 2011, Muse was sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in a U.S. federal prison. He is still serving at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Real Meaning Of Captain Phillips’ Ending

It’s A Tale Of Resiliency In A Cruel World

Captain Phillips‘ ending is ultimately about resilience in a cutthroat and often unjust world. The film explored this even before Phillips boarded the Maersk Alabama, as his wife, Andrea Phillips, talked about how quickly the world was changing. Phillips shared his own fears about their kids struggling to make their way in the world, and how their son not taking school seriously didn’t bode well for his future and the increasingly competitive job market he would face.

When Muse was first shown in Somalia, he and other villagers were pressured by armed men to capture another ship immediately, even though they had just captured a ship last week, because their boss wanted money today. When Muse’s leadership was questioned, he had to kill another pirate to assert his authority. From Muse trying to follow his orders and salvage the mission to Phillips protecting his crew and his ship, both men tried to do their best in trying circumstances.

On the lifeboat, Phillips underscored how Muse and the other pirates didn’t have to take him and could’ve walked away with $30,000 and a way back to Somalia. Muse made it clear that this wouldn’t have satisfied his bosses, and Phillips said, “We all have bosses.” Phillips also emphasized to Muse that maybe he didn’t just have to be a fisherman or a pirate, to which Muse wistfully said, “Maybe in America.”

Captain Phillips didn’t portray Muse as heroic by any means, but it made it clear he and the heroic Phillips were trying to survive and adapt given the pressures they faced from their superiors, and given their limited and quickly dwindling choices. Phillips was resilient in how he protected his crew and held the pirates at bay as long as he could, and when he was their hostage on the lifeboat, even being able to trick them and jump into the ocean in an attempt to swim toward the nearby U.S. Navy vessels. Beyond resiliency, Phillips never lost his humanity as he expressed concern for and attended to Bilal’s bloodied and severely injured feet and risked his life in the end when writing a note to his family telling them how much he loved them.

Captain Phillips was a story of human resiliency. Not only through Phillips’ bravery, but through Hanks’ devastating performance after being saved. His rawness of the role made Phillips’ trauma feel palpable and real.