[21twelve]

Great link! Very useful information.

Except in the list of things on board the lifeboat, they misspelled “pirates”:

“8).....two hatchets, one at each end of the lifeboat; (these are used to cut the painters)”

[cripplecreek]

This is interesting as well.

Why did the boat run out of gas?

The boat is required to have sufficient fuel to run the fully loaded lifeboat at 6 knots for a period of not less than 24 hours which is 144 nautical miles ( 165.7 statute miles) but it only traveled a few. Why?

There are two likely explanations for this. First safety inspections are carried out by the 3rd mate who is the most junior (i.e. inexperienced) officer. It is possible that he missed a problem with the lifeboat engines or fuel delivery system.

A more likely answer is that the captain sabotaged the engine. This would be easy to do since the pirates would likely little about the workings of a modern enclosed lifeboat which is much more complex than a basic skiff. It is also necessary to connect the battery switch which is often located in the engine compartment, giving Captain Phillips an excuse to open the hatch. Once in the hatch you could crimp the fuel line or block the air intake system, being a diesel engine, restricting fuel or air are the only two ways to safely stop and engine once started.