upon both the men, especially Gabi, and Pablo wanted them both at a hundred percent. At his age it wouldn’t be a big deal to keep watch and besides, it would give him an opportunity to get used to the ship. He wanted to arrive in Somalia as familiar with Albatros as if he had skippered her for years, and the best way to do that was by spending hours on the bridge.
As for Albatros, she was completely equipped and ready to be in the area of operations for the time required (refueling and stocking up, of course). The helicopter was on board, as well as all the armament, medications, and all the other necessary items.
The day before leaving, Reyes had given the crew some final instructions. In case they captured pirates, they would be handed over to Somali authorities as soon as possible. The crew had to keep in mind at all times that they were sailing under the Somali flag and all papers on board backed that up. However, they would receive all their orders from Reyes.
The only thing the Somali government asked was that they help anyone who was in distress within its area of influence, which was certainly not a conflict of interests for Albatros and her crew. Reyes had met with Pablo and Gabi, and had discussed the strategy they would follow. The three had agreed that they had too little information to develop a detailed plan, so they had agreed to initially only escort Alps Tankers’ oilers. During the dead time in between Pablo would have freedom of action. He had requested to begin their stay in the area of operations with a port visit in the Seychelles. That would allow the crew a few days rest after the intense journey that was planned. The Seychelles are more civilized than Somalia and the crew would be able to rest and enjoy themselves in a friendlier and safer environment, something the ports in Western Africa couldn’t offer. It would be an authentic tropical paradise. Pablo knew that the opportunity to spend their first well-earned paycheck after intense navigation would encourage and motivate the crew.
As for operations, Reyes had stressed to them that their employer had already lost three ships at the hands of pirates and that the idea was to nip the problem in the bud, but with the information they had up to now there wasn’t much they could do. So it was essential to collect as much data as possible.
Regarding international military forces in the area, Reyes had used his contacts to secure the approval of NATO and the European Union, although not their cooperation. Their operatives had been advised of their presence there but they were not about to share information with them. Reyes had urged them to call the commodore of European forces to at least maintain contact and report any sightings, attacks and other important events. The military there would value the advantages of having another ally in the area, even if their political superiors didn’t see it the same way.
Pablo stopped at the end of the flight deck watching the scene unfolding below in the quarterdeck. Following the training plan prepared with the aid of the executive officer they were conducting a man overboard exercise with the deck watch personnel. The exercise was simple; it began by throwing a lifesaver in the water with an orange distress flare. Once the supposed crew member was in the water the alarm was activated at the bridge, and from there action was taken.
It was Gabi’s watch, so Pablo had decided to leave the bridge to his executive officer and had gone to the quarterdeck to watch the RHIB being lowered onto the water with the rescue swimmer and the ship’s nurse (which Esther had finally found). The exercise was pre-programmed. As he went down the ladder to the quarterdeck Pablo observed how the first steps were carried out quickly and smoothly.
Pablo saw the operator of the RHIB and the rescue swimmer, who acted as bowman, get in the boat before it was lowered onto the water beside the ship. They had two rescue swimmers, always keeping one on standby.
Pablo was thinking about the watch distribution of the crew when he noticed that Ivan, the rescue swimmer, unfortunately bumped his head with a protrusion on the boat.
He watched, as if in slow motion, how Ivan collapsed and fell into the sea off the side of the boat furthest away from the ship.
His brain went into emergency mode.
Gabi was on the bridge. He would know how to react.
“Man overboard! Throw a lifesaver and anything that floats in the water!” he heard his own voice as if it was someone else’s.
It was broad daylight, the sea was calm and there was hardly any wind, but it was possible the swimmer was unconscious.
“Alert the bridge!” He, again, heard his voice.
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