“If he said he can speak to his family, can you give us a contact to their family so we can check with them to make sure this is correct?” Hammarstedt asks.
That is a question that causes Cataldo to lose whatever vestiges of compliance and patience he had at the beginning of the conversation.
“You are nothing, no authority, you are nothing. Why would we have to give personal information to you? He’s got his family, his son, his things at home, and you want to bother them! The only one working here is him, no one else, his family is happy where he is working. And he already told you to please don’t bother anymore, and that the letters that you are writing are pure lies. Over,” Cataldo shouts.
“The police are investigating you for human trafficking and if you can at least give us the name of the crewing agency they used, we can clear everything up with the police,” Hammarstedt says.
“Everything that you are saying is false. You never saw us fishing, you never saw us fishing, only sailing. Now, about the Indonesian matter, they’re happy here, their families are happy, their welfare is good with us. There is no problem. They are all content here. And the person that talked to you represented the Indonesian crew. What you are doing is taking away their job, you are ‘cutting their hands’ so that they can’t work and maintain their families. Over,” Cataldo says.
“On any normal fishing boat we can talk with the crew, we can laugh with the crew, but with your boat, we are not allowed to speak to them, why is that?” Hammarstedt asks.
“You heard the Indonesian mariner say it, they don’t want to have any communication with you because you say a lot of lies. You are causing problems for them and their families. And I won’t communicate with the captain of the Bob Barker by telephone either because everything that I say can be heard by radio, I have nothing to hide. Over.”
“We will take what the Indonesian crew said into consideration, is there anything else?” Hammarstedt replies through his interpreter.
“Yes,” Cataldo answers. “He wants to say the last words, he wants to say one last thing so that you stay assured and stop bothering the Indonesians, since you won’t get anything from us, any information, and that’s what he wants to make clear now. He’s going to talk to you now, over,” Cataldo says before once again handing the microphone to the Indonesian engineer on the Thunder.
“Please, no bother anymore because here all mariner Indonesian happy. Everything fine. Captain very, very good, agency also very, very good. Lots of food, lots of medicines, and much fuel, for 10 months more.”
“We understand that you are annoyed with us following you, but if you have nothing to hide, why don’t we go together to port right now, we can sort this out, and then we won’t have to see each other again.”
Cataldo is back on the radio.
“I would gladly do that, but I obey orders, you receive orders from your boss Paul Watson, and I receive orders from my contracting agency. I am not the owner of the ship. I have a contract and I have to follow it and accomplish it. I have always accomplished my contracts. I don’t see why I wouldn’t now. Over.”
“Don’t you think it’s strange that the owner would rather have you stay here in the open sea and not go to port?”
“Look I have a contract, and I earn money for every day, every month and every year. If I am here, we are all winning. We are all winning. And if the contracting agency wants to keep paying me, and feeding me, and keeping me here, we are all very happy here then. Over.”
“We have our orders, too, so we will continue to enjoy spending time with one another for a long, long time,” Hammarstedt answers before the Thunder’s captain vows to give him a long and exhausting fight.
“As I told you, we have a lot of fuel, a lot of supplies. We don’t have any need for another ship to come and resupply us. We are ready physically and mentally to be here for a long, long time. Over,” Cataldo says.
“OK. We will enjoy spending the foreseeable future with you,” Hammarstedt replies and glances toward the Thunder before turning to face Adam Meyerson. “They’re throwing a lot of big numbers out there today,” Hammarstedt says.
In the evening, the Thunder turns around and sets its course for the southeast.
It is probably just temporary. Just mind games, Hammarstedt thinks.
One hundred days. The chase has travelled across three oceans. It is the longest ship chase in history, it is the longest campaign in Sea Shepherd’s history, and it is one of the longest days in Peter Hammarstedt’s life. He says it to himself, he says it to Adam Meyerson, he says it to the majority of those who come onto the bridge:
“I wish a Navy ship would come.”
But for the time being, nothing appears on the horizon, other than thin shafts of light breaking through the clouds. Nobody offers them assistance or a new supply of provisions.
The morning arrived with some good news. The Viking has been arrested in Malaysia and the captain thrown in jail. Hammarstedt believes that the Thunder and the Viking have the same owner, and hopes the arrest will have an impact: that the owner will take some action with the Thunder other than simply allowing the ship to drift for month after month. The Kunlun was stopped in Thailand.
“The Thai customs authorities said that the boat will be held until the investigations were concluded and that could take a very long time … Huge,” Hammarstedt
