Richard Phillips (born May 16, 1955) is an American merchant mariner and author who served as captain of the MV Maersk Alabama during its hijacking by Somali pirates in April 2009.

With these advisories in effect, on April 8, 2009, four Somali pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama when it was located around 240 nmi (440 km) southeast of the Somalian port city of Eyl.

"[8][9][10] According to Chief Engineer Mike Perry, the crew sank the pirate speedboat shortly after the boarding by continuously swinging the rudder of the Maersk Alabama, swamping the smaller boat.

[12] The crew later successfully lured one of the pirates, Abduwali Muse, into the engine room and overpowered him, stabbing him in the hand in the process and keeping him tied up for some 12 hours.

Aasheim had previously been captain of the Maersk Alabama until Richard Phillips relieved him eight days prior to the pirate attack.

[16] On April 9, a standoff began between the Bainbridge and the pirates in the Maersk Alabama lifeboat, where they continued to hold Phillips hostage.

On Sunday, April 12, Bainbridge captain Commander Frank Castellano concluded that Phillips' life was in immediate danger, based on reports that a pirate was pointing an AK-47 at his back.

[19][20][21] On Castellano's order, U.S. Navy marksmen from DEVGRU, commonly known as SEAL Team Six, deployed on Bainbridge's fantail, opened fire and killed the three pirates with bullets to the head.

"My crew were now safe, because the pirates lost their ladder and boat when they boarded the Maersk Alabama, so they couldn't get back onboard," says Phillips.

Phillips commented in his interview that the rendition of the events is accurate, adding, "When I met [Tom Hanks], I told him if he's going to play me, he's going to have to put on a little weight and get a little better-looking and he did neither.

The crew members claim Phillips was at least partly at fault for an "insistence on being fast and making money ... [getting] the Alabama within 250 miles of the Somali coast..."[43][44] The lawsuit was reportedly settled before it went to trial.