Listen to the nice carp; he knows what he’s talking about…
Don’t end up like Mohamed Abdi Hassan, aka “Loud Mouth,” who was conned into leaving Somalia by Belgian officials who pretended they wanted to make a movie based on his exploits, and wanted him as a technical adviser for their own Captain Phillips–inspired piece.
Apparently, the promise of getting an additional booty from his trips to sea, or maybe a strong desire to come up with a more accurate account of the action (though he might have made a few coins on the side if he was a professional witness against Mersk to counter Phillips testifying against his former crew…), led him to be talked into flying from Somalia to Kenya, where he was picked up by Belgian officials who were Lying-in-wait than Lions Gate. They whisked Loud Mouth off within moments of grabbing him, and he’s scheduled to face arraignment on October 15th in Bruges.
Let’s be clear here: If you were part of a Somali pirate crew, and someone claims to be a producer who wants to take a meeting with you, DON’T DO IT!
At the very least, Skype first, then insist on taking a face-to-face somewhere safe, like Dubai…
James Ryan 