Half of all the toothfish brought to the market in the West passed for a period of time through the island in the southwest of the Indian Ocean. The logistics surrounding the illegal trading activities were sophisticated. At the harbour, the ship owners could purchase false import and export documents and the catches were often sold to nominee companies that falsified documents for resale on the lucrative US market. Attempts to trace the fish back to the source came to an end at a post office box, or on the doorstep of a company that turned out to be non-existent.
In the New Year of 2006, the research ship Aurora Australis set out from Fremantle with 2.2 million litres of fuel and 53 research scientists on board. The destination was the two Australian research stations Mawson and Dawis on the edge of the Antarctic plateau. During the 70-day voyage, the crew and the scientists would collect data for a number of different research programmes. The ships had also received orders to inform the Australian authorities of any whalers and fishing vessels they encountered in the Southern Ocean. All observations were to be called in immediately, regardless of the time of day. As the Aurora Australis approached the ice edge north of the Banzare Bank and the Prydz Bay, they saw a storm moving towards them. Despite the poor visibility, they could just make out a blue and white trawler with its deck full of net floats. On the stern was the name Typhoon 1, Lome.
The third mate of the Aurora Australis feared that the fishing gear could become entangled in the propellers, putting the research ship out of commission. That could lead to a catastrophe. When he called up the trawler, he received the answer that they were longline fishing. The chance meeting in the Southern Ocean was reported to the Australian authorities. The ship that would later be known as the Thunder was then blacklisted for the first time.3
Every year the Thunder set out on two toothfish expeditions in the Southern Ocean. A catch of 80 tons per trip was sufficient to cover the costs of fuel, wages, fishing gear and supplies. In 2010, after having been blacklisted for four years, they fished a total of 700 tons of toothfish. It was a goldmine for all concerned.
After the authorities of Mauritius started becoming aggressive, the Thunder found a new hiding place, Penang in Malaysia, an island in the Strait of Malacca which was once known as the Pearl of the Orient. In Penang, the Chinese millionaires built their mansions on Guernye Road. In the evenings they met in the bar of the Oriental Hotel, where the hospitable Armenian owner would stroll into the bar with a whiskey glass balanced on top of his bald head and allow the guests to stay for free, until he died of liver failure and in financial ruin. Penang and the island’s largest city, Georgetown, disappeared into oblivion for a time when the harbour lost its significance as a port of call on world trade routes. After the authorities of Mauritius relented to international pressure and chased the toothfish fleet out to sea, it made its way to Penang.
The Thunder would usually sail into Penang on one of the calmer days on the weekend. Then the two regular Chinese buyers would climb on board. In the cold storage room they assessed the quality of the fish before agreeing on a price with the ship owner’s right-hand man – a well-dressed Chilean who spoke fluent Mandarin and went by the nickname “Capitán Nemo”.
A middle-aged Spaniard with language proficiency also took part in the bartering. He was a wizard at negotiations. He was the one who procured cheap fuel, solved most of the problems and kept the port authorities happy with gifts large and small. And he was the one who could acquire another flag when the ship needed one.
The ship owner’s only concern was the constant attention the ship received. It was included on the EU’s own black list of pirate vessels. The EU also went after some of the flag states that provided shelter for the pirate fleet. Togo was one of these. The tiny African nation earned far more on the sale of phosphate, cocoa, coffee and nuts to the European market than on selling its national flag to dubious ship owners. The Typhoon 1 was thrown out of Togo’s ships register in 2010. The ship owner solved the problem by securing flags in two nations simultaneously. Sometimes Mongolia’s red and white flag waved above the Thunder’s stern post, at other times it was the green and white flag of Nigeria.
To confuse the authorities the ship changed names with increasing frequency. The Thunder, Kuko, Wuhan No. 4, Ming No. 5, Batu 1. It was only once the name plate had been attached to the stern that the crew knew what the ship would be called on the following day.
In Australia, the investigator Glen Salmon studied the high-resolution surveillance photos of the trawler with the characteristic incinerator at the stern, the tall mast on the quarterdeck and two additional smokestacks, on the port side and starboard side, respectively. And he was not
