“Not getting anything back from them now,” he says to Hammarstedt.
Then Vermeulen replies.
“Just want to make sure that it was you guys who pulled up the pilot ladder on the Thunder.”
“No, we didn’t,” Vermeulen tells Meyerson.
“Tell them to get off,” Hammarstedt orders.
Simon Ager shivers. Has someone stayed behind on board to make sure the ship can’t be saved? Is there somebody waiting in the darkness inside?
“It might be Anteo, to get into the fish hold,” Vermeulen says over the radio to Meyerson.
“Roger that. I just don’t want anyone sneaking up behind you. Just like an episode of Scooby Doo.”
Vermeulen makes contact with Broadfield. He confirms that it was a false alarm.
“It is confirmed. Anteo pulled up the pilot ladder,” he says to Meyerson.
While Vermeulen, Ager and Broadfield are sweating on board the Thunder, Meyerson and Mossfield have caught sight of a flock of birds.
“Where did all those birds come from? They look like cranes,” Meyerson says.
“They were sitting on the Thunder. It’s so strange,” Mossfield says.
“Why did they come here all of a sudden?”
They are unable to agree about what type of bird it is, but Meyerson believes it can be a sign that the Thunder is about to go down.
“If we see those birds again, it’s time to get off the boat.”
“Let’s tell them to get off in five minutes,” Hammarstedt says.
“I told them that ten minutes ago,” Meyerson says.
“Give them a reminder.”
“It is going to roll that way, too – like right onto them,” Meyerson says.
“The end of the Thunder,” Hammarstedt says.
Meyerson starts singing an old classic by The Doors.
“This is the end, my only friend …”
“But it is not really my friend, though. I kinda hate that boat.”
“Really?” Colette Harmsen asks.
“Have you gotten the Stockholm syndrome?” Meyerson laughs.
On board the Thunder Broadfield has found a small hatch leading down into the cold storage room. With Vermeulen’s help, he now pulls the rope ladder through the ship. They attach the ladder and Broadfield climbs down into the darkness. Woven polypropylene bags full of fish are floating around in cold, grey water. There is water dripping from icicles hanging from the ceiling. Since the power went out on the Thunder, the fish has begun to thaw. Broadfield grabs hold of one of the bags and attaches it to a rope. They pull it towards them and tear it open. The head and tail of the fish have been removed, but it looks very much like a toothfish. They throw it over board into one of the dinghies.
As Vermeulen and Ager jump to safety in the dinghy, Broadfield runs one last time into the sinking ship. They have forgotten to take the folders they found on the bridge. Then, after 35 minutes on board, all three are about to disembark from the sinking ship.
Thousands of sailors and fishermen have been on board the solid trawler that was launched in Ulsteinvik, Norway almost 50 years ago. On the bridge of the Bob Barker they now count the draft marks on the Thunder. The ship is lying very low in the water. The end is near.
“That was the eeriest fucking thing, man, going in there,” Ager says.
On the Bob Barker the cook has cleared out some space for the fish in one of the freezers. This is highly out of the ordinary on a ship where only vegan food is served. The ship’s physician and veterinarian have prepared formaldehyde to preserve the fish so a DNA test of the carcass can be done.
When Vermeulen, Broadfield and Ager climb on board the Bob Barker, Hammarstedt welcomes them on the deck. He wants a report immediately.
“There were emergency suits lying on the bed. Suitcases packed, but left behind there. No logbooks. One computer, charts, mobile phones. They deliberately opened the hatches to let it flood. They had plenty of food on board. Chicken everywhere, even defrosting in the galley,” Vermeulen says.
“You need to type up a witness statement immediately,” Hammarstedt says.
He knows that this can be important in a potential criminal case against the Thunder. Sea Shepherd has hours of video footage, and they have recorded the communication with the Thunder’s captain, but the most important thing of all is the testimonies of the three who have been on board.
“Everything that can flood was unlocked. Only the personal fridges were locked,” Vermeulen says, and he adds: “I’m dying for a beer!”
A good deal of what they have just observed on the Thunder indicates that most of the crew on the trawler were caught off guard when the alarm went off.
“Maybe a few of the officers knew, but the crew didn’t. They had suitcases, but they left them,” Vermeulen says.
They also made another interesting discovery. Throughout the entire chase the Sea Shepherd photographer has tried to take photographs of the officers on the Thunder. As soon as somebody appeared on deck, Ager pointed his telephoto lens at them and started snapping away. The pirates have clearly done the same thing. In a drawer on the bridge they found pictures of the crew of the Bob Barker.
Hammarstedt and Vermeulen climb the steep stairway up to the bridge of the Bob Barker. There Hammarstedt takes a quick look at the take from the Thunder, which includes some cheap mobile phones.
“These look like the phones drug dealers have,” he says.
“Yeah. Expendables,” Vermeulen answers.
Hammarstedt is relieved. They have secured telephones and computer equipment that can give Interpol information about who the Thunder captain has communicated with on land. Perhaps the answer to the identity of the owner is to be found in these phones? Sea Shepherd has also documented how the officers on the Thunder have left doors and bulkheads open, thereby clearing the way for the water pouring onto the ship. And last but not least, they have secured a fish specimen. He feels certain that it is a Patagonian toothfish.
But the day is far
