Catching Thunder by Eskil Engdal

Author:Eskil Engdal
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NAT011000, TRU003000, HIS057000, LAW066000
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Published: 2018-03-19T04:00:00+00:00

35

MAYDAY

GULF OF GUINEA, APRIL 2015

Darkness has descended abruptly upon the Gulf of Guinea, and at a mere 5 knots the Thunder glides like a shadow into the night. Earlier in the day the Thunder and the Bob Barker crossed the equator, at lunchtime an airplane appeared on the radar and a few hours later they passed a pod of Risso’s dolphins.

As the watchstander team on the bridge of the Bob Barker is preparing for another hot and uneventful night, they suddenly see that a light is switched on near one of the bulkheads on the Thunder’s quarterdeck, and then several cones of lights dancing restlessly across the blacked out deck.

“19:03 – Activity observed on Thunder. Moving flashlights and unusual deck lights on,” quartermaster Alexis “Lex” Rigby writes in the ship’s log.

Then she asks Captain Hammarstedt and first mate Adam Meyerson to come to the bridge.

“What do you think, Adam?” Hammarstedt asks.

“They are definitely up to something. Anything else on the radar?” Meyerson asks.

“Nothing,” Rigby replies.

Ever since they left the Antarctic, Hammarstedt and Meyerson have been concerned about the Thunder receiving assistance from another vessel. The name and position of all ships that come within range of the radar are recorded in the logbook. So far only a few commercial ships have passed. They are closer to land than they have ever been in the course of the chase.

The past few days Hammarstedt has been feeling uneasy. He has just sent an email to Interpol and explained that they are located less than a day’s sail away from both Annobón in Equatorial Guinea and the tiny island state of São Tomé and Príncipe.

“I strongly suspect that the FV Thunder will make port call in the next coming days,” he warned.

Will this be the night when he will really be tested? Are the crew of the Thunder preparing for a rendezvous with another ship? Or are they going to dump the fish they have on board before going ashore?

“Maybe they are getting ready to fish again,” Meyerson says.

He navigates the Bob Barker closer to the Thunder and passes around a powerful set of night vision binoculars to see whether anything is being thrown over the side. They believe there is a conveyor belt running from the rear hatch of the Thunder. When the nets are hauled in, the fish is transported through the ship and into the fish factory. Have they put this conveyor belt into reverse to discharge the frozen fish back into the ocean? But the only movement to be seen on the quarterdeck is that of the cones of light and diffuse shadows.

“If you are concerned that they are going to throw something in the water, you can just shine a spotlight off to port. Don’t know what good it is going to do. If they throw frozen stuff over, we’re just going to pick it up and throw it back on, you know what I mean?” Meyerson says.

“The fish is just going to sink. It is frozen. Not much we can do,” Hammarstedt says.

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