by JL Curtis
Cho kept dialing a phone number without success, finally at almost six, they reached the main gate for the port. Standing forlornly on the side of the road was the man Cho had been trying to call, who waved them down.
Som stopped the van and Cho hopped out; Cho stood talking to the dispirited man for about five minutes then slid the door open and the man got in the van. Cho turned to Som, rattled off a comment in Thai, then turned to John, “We head back to Sattahip, the ship is gone. They loaded sixteen CONEX boxes and got underway a half hour ago. We run with lights now, we have no time to waste.”
32 The Chase
Cho spent most of the ride back to Sattahip on the phone, making multiple calls to a variety of people some seemingly with positive results, others not, if the old man was reading the body language right. They finally arrived back at the ramp and the helicopter started engines as soon as they rolled up. Cho rushed everyone onboard the helicopter and made one last call, screaming into his phone to be heard over the noise, then leaned over to the old man.
“We are going to a Navy ship, they are closing the coast to pick us up and we will board the ship at sea. The weather is not good, but we have a track on the Chinese ship, it is making for the international waters.”
The old man just nodded and stuffed more ear plugs in his ears, thinking this was not part of the plan, but what the hell, it wasn’t the first time he’d been on a boat. An hour later, when they finally broke into a clearing in the weather, he looked out the window and noted this was a pretty good sized ship. He wasn’t sick, but he’d been damn close a few times as they’d dodged weather and finally had to fly through what he guessed was a thunderstorm. He knew he’d never been in a bumpier ride, and now acknowledged that the kids flying the helo were as good as Cho had said they were.
As they came in to land, the crew chief opened the hatch all the way and started leaning out as the helo rocked around; the old man was scared they were going to hit the superstructure, then they landed hard on what turned out to be a very small helicopter pad on the back of the boat, ship, whatever.
Ducking under the still spinning blades he followed Cho forward into the superstructure. They were directed to what the old man guessed was the wardroom due to the number of officers standing there. Cho and an officer with three bars and a circle on his shoulder boards stood talking quietly off to the side of the wardroom as tea and coffee was passed to the rest of the arrivals.
After about five minutes, Cho waved the old man over. “Captain Wattanapanit, this is Captain John Cronin, of the US police forces. He is expert on smugglers and smuggling. He is assisting us in this investigation and graciously agreed to come along to provide his expertise.”
The captain and the old man shook hands, and the captain asked, “Captain Cronin, are you familiar with the term VBSS?”
“Yes sir,” the old man said. “Many years ago I did that, and I have also discussed this capability extensively with a variety of both US and foreign personnel.”
Captain Wattanapanit nodded. “That is good, as the ship we are chasing now is staying in the weather front to try to hide. We will board with the team I have onboard for training under the current exercise. I would like for you to attend the briefing and provide any comments you feel are necessary.”
The old man nodded and stepped away from the two men and asked for a cup of coffee. He noted there were multiple conversations going on and noticed Som off in another corner talking to a small officer in what looked like the old Army forest BDUs. The old man decided to work himself over that way, since he noticed what appeared to be a beret rolled up in the man’s cargo pant pocket.
As he moved closer he saw a tab on the right sleeve that confirmed this officer was a Thai Seal. He grinned to himself, thinking things were about to get interesting for the ship they were going after. Som noticed him and introduced him to Lieutenant Kai, confirming he was the platoon leader for a Thai Underwater Demolition and Assault Unit, better known as Thai Seals and a platoon was aboard as part of the Cobra Gold Exercise doing practice VBSS boardings.
The old man saw the captain pick up a phone on the sideboard, and within minutes he felt the ship turn and increase speed. Cho came over and told them, “We will go to crews mess, there we will brief the target and decide how to take the ship. The captain and I don’t believe we can fly to the ship, so we must board from RHIBs[27]. Lieutenant Kai, you will be in charge, if possible I and Sam and John here would like to accompany your boarding party.” LT Kai and Cho had a rapid exchange in Thai; finally LT Kai nodded and led them out of the wardroom.
Weaving through the passageways they went down ladders and decks to the crews’ mess where the rest of the platoon was assembled. The old man went to the steam line and picked up a coffee cup and started to fill it, as he did so he heard a voice behind him. “Mr. Cronin… John?”
Turning around, he came face to face with Aaron. “What the hell are you doing here, Aaron?”
Aaron looked at him. “Well, I could ask you the same question, sir. I’m out here with two others from my squad on the Cobra Gold exercise; we’re doing cross training with the Thai Seals. We’ve been practicing VBSS boarding against different participants in the exercise, and they are doing counter boarding operations.”
The old man shook his head. “Well, this is not going to be an exercise, Aaron, this one is real, and there is a possibility of both drugs and people involved in this one.”
Aaron nodded. “Okay, these guys are good, and we’ve integrated pretty well with them.”
LT Kai called, “Attention on deck!” As the captain came into the crew’s mess. “Seats,” he said. “Gentlemen, we are one hour from intercept of the target vessel. They are remaining inside the weather front and running at about 12 knots for international waters. We will make bridge to bridge notification of a boarding action; if they refuse to stop, we will fire across their bow and at that time assume an opposed boarding status. Lieutenant Kai will be the boarding action commander. I will now turn over the briefing to him.”
LT Kai briefed the standard boarding procedures and determined that two RHIBS would be used with a primary team and secondary team. He directed that Cho, Som and the old man would be with the secondary team, and would not board until the primary team had secured the vessel. He also moved the Marines to the secondary team to provide security for the additional members of the team. After a short Q&A, the briefing broke up into smaller discussions.
Shortly afterward, the ship began rolling more and as they went back up the myriad of ladders, they began to hear rain hitting the sides and decks of the ship. The old man asked the wardroom steward for some clear plastic wrap and wrapped up what looked like a hair dryer to try to keep it dry. Som looked on curiously. “Sir, may I ask, what is that?”
The old man held up the now wrapped device. “Sam, this is a thermal gun. It detects heat and registers a temperature. Not sure if it will work, but I’m going to haul it along, anyway.” Storing it back in his backpack, and wrapping his cell phone up the same way, he stuck the cell in an inside pocket and zipped up the backpack. He hoped to hell neither would get too wet and fail to function. He guessed he’d see how well the Kobra stood up to saltwater and rain and resigned himself to a cold, wet ride.
Thirty minutes later, wearing a tactical vest that was one size too small with a chicken plate inserted and trying not to take deep breaths, he gingerly climbed into the RHIB sitting on the blocks. The other RHIB was loaded and swung out as the ship maneuvered close aboard the Chinese ship. The old man reached under his rain jacket and touched the butt of the pistol to ensure it was still in the holster. Even though the vest was small, it came down behind the butt of the pistol and felt uncomfortably like it was trying to push the gun out of the holster.
He now understood why Matt and Aaron had the thigh rigs, but that wasn’t an option here and now. Suddenly, the ship turned and a spate of Thai came over the ship loudhailer. Cho leaned back. “Well, they are refusing to stop,
claiming international waters, but what they don’t realize is that part of the Gulf of Thailand is in fact enclosed by our country and therefore is considered territorial waters out past the twelve nautical mile limit from shore. The captain has decreed this will be an opposed boarding, therefore the Seals are allowed to fire if threatened.”
The old man turned and saw Aaron and the other Marines locking and loading their M-4s and checking their M-9s as the word filtered back. The tension started ramping up as the ship turned to launch the RHIBs on the lee side and as soon as the first RHIB was in the water, it powered away toward the Chinese ship. The deck crew swarmed over their RHIB, attaching the lifting lines and giving the quick disconnect lanyards to the coxswain and one of the Seals in the front of the boat.
With a jerk and swing, their RHIB was over the side and dropping quickly toward the water as the coxswain started the dual outboards. As soon as it touched the water, he yelled a command and the Seal yanked the disconnects. They flipped the lines away and spun away under full power.
Through the rain he could barely make out the Chinese ship, but as they got closer, he could see the first Seals swarming up what looked like a rope ladder from the starboard stern of the ship. As soon as the first RHIB was emptied, Cho barked an order to the coxswain, and they went in under the ladder, and started up. Aaron insisted on going ahead of the old man, and had one of his squad bring up the rear. Cho bounded up the ladder like a twenty year old, which pissed the old man off to no end as he grimly climbed the slick ladder hoping to hell he wouldn’t slip off and die in the water.
Finally aboard, and surrounded by the Marines, Cho and the old man went forward and up toward the bridge as the Seals fanned out to inspect the ship. On the bridge, Aaron broke off two of the squad to assist the search team and Cho began questioning the ship’s captain. The old man just stood back and watched the rest of the bridge team. He kept getting drawn back to one man with two stripes that just didn’t fit somehow, and noted that individual was constantly watching the captain and the captain would occasionally cut his eyes toward this man.
Cho finally got disgusted with the captain and turned the questioning over to Som, and the old man nodded in the direction of the front of the bridge. Cho came over. “This is not productive. He says they have done nothing illegal and we are pirates attacking them in international waters, and he refuses to give authorization to search. I told him we will search, but right now nothing unusual is being reported.”
Turning and looking out the forward windows the old man said, “Joe, I think we have a Goomba over there in the corner with the two stripes. He’s… Something’s not right about him, and he doesn’t seem like a subordinate to the captain at all. I’m not doing any good up here, so I’m going to go prowl and see what I can find if that’s alright with you.”
Cho nodded and LT Kai detailed one of his Seals to accompany the old man and Aaron. The old man asked the Seal where the galley was, and the Seal led them there. The old man poked around in the galley, looking at the prep area and looking in the various cold lockers. Coming out he said to Aaron, “Way too much food aboard for this small a crew. And did you see the size of that pan the cook was cleaning? I’ve never seen a Wok that big! And the dishes were piled pretty high, I quick counted thirty plates, and I don’t think the crew is that big.” As they cleared the galley, he turned to the Seal. “Can you ask LT Kai the ship’s compliment and I guess if you would lead us to the forward hold please.”
The young Seal nodded, keyed his mic and asked a question, got an answer and turned to the old man. “LT Kai say fifteen on manifest. He say number one hold open now.”
The old man looked thoughtful, as the Seal led them back up to the main deck and out onto it, then forward to the forward hold where one hatch had been slid partially back. Looking down, the old man surveyed the hold, and noted it was lightly loaded, which made sense considering one didn’t want a lot of weight on the nose of the ship. He climbed down the ladder attached to the aft bulkhead and walked forward among the single level of crates. Aaron talked with the Seal petty officer and came back. “Nothing. All these are marked Hong Kong and all of them are originating in India. No indication of any tampering either.”
The old man grunted an acknowledgement. . “What’s the last frame in this hold? We’ll need that as we work back.” As he was waiting for Aaron to come back, he looked up and saw another ladder that disappeared under the deck on the far side of the hold. Pulling out his Surefire flashlight, he shined it up toward that corner and observed what appeared to be a dogged hatch at the main deck level.
Aaron returned. “Frame 59 is the last marking I see, and that’s on the one about a foot from the bulkhead. And there is no through bulkhead hatch.”
The old man nodded, and started climbing. Back in the rain, he looked at the number two hold and decided there was no way to get under the CONEX vans to pull a hatch cover. As he walked around the back side of the vans he looked left and right, and counted eight stacked two high on the left, and eight in two rows of a single stacks. Continuing across the beam of the ship, he looked aft and counted another set of eight vans there stacked two high. Looking at the Seal petty officer he asked, “Has anyone searched this hold yet?”
To which the petty officer responded, “No sir, we are not sure how to enter.”
Turning to Aaron, he said, “Check that Ventilation funnel there and see if there is a hatch at the deck level please.” To the Seal he asked, “Would you ask Lieutenant Kai to send a ship’s bosun down here please?”
The old man turned back to see Aaron and another Marine boosting one of the Seals up and holding on to him as he slid into the funnel. He was pulled back out and said, “Yes, dogged hatch at deck, maybe funnel turns on and off.”
Aaron and another Marine tried twisting the funnel first one way, then the other, suddenly it broke loose and turned 90 degrees to the right and they were able to lift it free. At that point a bosun accompanied by another Seal approached and lapsed into voluble Chinese accompanied by hand waving and an attempt to put the funnel back on. When one of the Seals translated, it was basically dangerous cargo, do not enter. Which simply meant the old man was definitely going in there now.
They got the hatch undogged, and open, did a quick air check and told the bosun to turn on the hold lighting. He said it didn’t work and he that he was not responsible for anything in the hold. The old man leaned over the coming and shined his light down, seeing various blue and green tractors lining the floor of the hold. He smelled a strangely familiar odor, but couldn’t place it. Moving out of the way, the Seals slid easily down the ladder and fanned out in the hold.
A niggling thought kept floating around in the hind brain, but the old man just couldn’t drag it out. Finally, he decided to take a closer look, and climbed carefully down the now rain slick ladder to the floor of the hold.
“Aaron, do me a favor and find out what that forward bulkhead number is, will you please?”
Flashing his light over the hold he saw all the tractors were Indo tractors, in two different sizes. He asked one of the Seals to confirm the onload and destination for them, and the Seal came back they had been loaded on in Mumbai, and were destined for Hong Kong which was the next port of call. The old man thanked him and continued to quarter the hold, as he got to the front bulkhead, he noted the only thing in the hold that wasn’t a tractor was a wooden crate about 5x5 by four feet high. It was centered against the front bulkhead and secured with heavy strapping both to the bulkhead and the deck plates. The old man kept sniffing and suddenly it hit him: red lead! That was what he smelled! Yelling to Aaron, he said, “Aaron, check for any places where there is fresh paint. That smell is red-lead anti-corrosion paint!”
Aaron and the Seals all searched, but to no avail. Finally the old man got down on the floor and looked under the crate. By squirming around he was finally able to see something protruding from the deck of the hold that showed bright red paint, and got slowly to his feet
. “Gents, I think this may be what we’re looking for, there is another hatch under this crate. Let’s see if we can move it.”
After unstrapping it, the combined strength of the Seals and Marines couldn’t budge it, so the old man requested LT Kai or Cho’s permission to open the crate and remove enough items to allow them to move it. Concurrence came quickly, but they had to wait for bolt cutters and a set of wrenches to take the top off. As the old man studied it, he saw flakes of rust had been knocked off the bolt heads. He told the Seals what he wanted and started the long climb back to the deck.
Climbing back to the deck he asked Cho to come meet him, and Cho, Som and LT Kai appeared shortly thereafter. In the lee and out of some of the rain, he explained what he’d seen and what he expected to find. LT Kai went to observe, and told the leading petty officer to use the same method to access the third hold and report back. That hold was also stacked with tractors, but the lights were on and vent fans working. The old man turned to Cho. “Is Captain Wattanapanit a relative? Or was that just sheer luck that you both happen to have the same name?”
Cho shrugged. “He’s a second cousin, and doing pretty damn well for himself and the family.”
LT Kai reported by radio they had the top off the crate and it appeared to be filled with heads for tractors, but they looked rusted. He also reported they could not see the bottom of the crate and were starting to take the heads out, but they were very heavy.