(Tehran) On the 8th April 2009 the MV Maersk Alabama, a 17,000 tonne container ship was sailing off the horn of Africa , when it was bordered and hijacked by 4 Somali pirates. They held the ship for the next few days before boarding a lifeboat which set sail for shore and presumably riches for them, and incarceration for their hostage 'Captain Richard Philips'. The only problem was the US Navy had responded to the ships SOS and the lifeboat was soon hemmed in by the United States Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge and the guided-missile frigate USS Halyburton. unable to accept the fact that they had been caught, they took out their anger on their hostage, which in turn led to US Navy Seals taking out 3 of them with shots to the head and capturing the last who in a US court of law received 33 years in jail. In 2013 a film was made of the above incident staring 'Tom Hanks.
So in a nutshell , American captain kidnapped by Somali pirates was rescued by the US navy. Well not according the Iranians, they are claiming that the film is based on a rescue carried out by their Navy. Former Iranian Navy commander General Habibollah Sayyari speaking during an interview aired on Iranian television on the 5th of February, cited the 2012 Iran navy rescue of the Iranian ship MV Eglantine that had been hijacked and taken to the shore of Somalia. Two Filipino sailors were killed during the Iranian navy rescue operation.
The thing the good General hasn't taken into account is not only was the film based on the book that Capitan Phillips had published in 2010. But the entire incident was reported to the world as it transpired. Ironically by a very strange quirk of coincidence filming for the film began on the very same day that the MV Eglantine was hijacked, the 26th March 2012.
