These days you most often see the word piracy used as a political slur to describe the act of unauthorized computer downloading. This is why it makes me happy to see actual pirates making the news. Recently one of these modern day Somalian pirate attacks got turned into the Tom Hank vehicle “Captain Phillips” (2013).

This movie is set on the ship, the MV Maersk Alabama. Besides the events of “Captain Phillips”, this ship has been attacked by pirates numerous times. Previous to these pirate attacks, there were some allegations of fraud relating to this ship. Most recently, we’ve been hearing about this ship in relation to the death of two of it’s crewmen.

Drugs and needles found at the scene have been blamed for the death of these two Maerskian men. A months long boat trip seems like an inopportune time to have an addictive drug habit. There’s the possibility that this was a one time treat gone wrong, or maybe they were careful enough planners to bring a months long drug supply and stick to a very specific habit and not binge. It’s also possible that they didn’t need to bring the drugs aboard the ship. If we want to go further down the proverbial rabbit-hole, we might theorize that they were sloppily killed because of something they knew or found out.

I’m always a little suspicious of films based on true events. It’s an easy story and an easy cash-in, but it also serves to mythologize an event and cement a particular narrative in the public’s mind. We’ve seen this recently in relation to 9/11, with “United 93” (2006) perpetuating the questionable “let’s roll” story. Disney also attempted to trademark “Seal Team 6,” the name of the purported Bin Laden assassins, but they were ultimately shut down due to bad taste.

Why has this ship been attacked so many times? At least one of these attacks happened 400 miles off of the coast of Somalia. This is not an attack of opportunity. This requires planning, and possibly even a tip off. You have to wonder what exactly is on this ship, and how valuable or dangerous it’s contents are. There have been numerous stories of ships dumping garbage and toxic – even nuclear – waste off of the eastern coast of Africa. It’s not just the question of what the ship was carrying, but what it was carrying in each direction. As the movie named “Operation Fast and Furious” showed us, guns flow south, drugs flow north.

Is it possible that these Somalians were not trying to steal from this ship, but were instead trying to stop it? Could this have been a low budget Somalian Sea Shepherd? Maybe the same word is being used to slander both environmentalists and computer nerds. The narrative that “Captain Phillips” puts forth is one of heroism, but who are the heroes? Were these Somalians really pirates? All I know is that I will not be pirating this movie to find out. You have to be selective and careful when consuming propaganda, because even though you know the nature of the beast, you can still be damaged by it.

Keep watching the seas.