‘Okay, we have couple of ways to track the ship. One, Lloyds Register – this will tell us who owns it and what it’s being used for. Two, we can use the transponder manufacturer’s website to track its progress.’
Dan scrolled through the screens. ‘This is a good start,’ he conceded, ‘but it only tells us where the ship is. We know Delaney’s using a car and it might be in a container, so how are we going to track that?’
Sarah smiled. ‘You’ve just voiced the concerns of western civilisation.’
She swung the keyboard back to her side of the desk and hit a couple of keys. ‘Here, look at this. A couple of years ago, several western governments worldwide demanded the maritime industry provide a better way of monitoring shipping containers. Through a Singapore-based financing initiative called the MINT Fund, several systems designers developed and manufactured tracking devices for containers.’
She flicked through various web pages. ‘All the devices in use now are reasonably effective at preventing theft of goods from container ships, as well as trying to stop them being used by terrorist organisations to move weapons and explosives.’
Dan stood up, stretching his back. ‘How do they work?’
Sarah swung her chair around to face him as he paced the room. ‘From what I can gather, the devices have sensors which monitor temperature control – you set it up just as the container is sealed and any fluctuation – whether warm or cold, or the container being opened before it’s timed to do so, or the angle of the container changes –an alarm is set off.’
‘On the ship, or at a remote location?’ asked Dan.
Sarah glanced at the screen. ‘According to this, it’s designed for electronic tracking, so it looks like most devices feed information via satellite up to a central database these shipping companies subscribe to and it provides them with real-time data, so remote would be my guess although I’d expect the ship’s bridge to receive notification of the same time. That would make sense in, say, cases of piracy – it would give the crew time to arm themselves, or get to a safe room on the ship.’
Dan sat on the edge of the desk and looked at the computer screen. ‘I wonder how reliable it is?’
Sarah tapped her forehead with her pen as she continued to scroll through the web pages. ‘I guess it’s fine – unless it gets switched off.’ She threw her pen down on the desk.
‘Okay,’ said David. ‘Here’s the plan. Go through the manufacturers’ websites. They should have subscriber databases you can log on to. Enter the ship’s name and search to see if there’s a transponder signal available for the freighter or each container they’re carrying.’
Sarah nodded. ‘I’ll do my best.’
David pointed at Dan. ‘You and I are going to start planning what to do when we find this bloody ship. Come with me.’
It was late, the office cleaners had nearly finished their rounds and the coffee machine had broken down two hours ago.
Sarah pushed her hair away from her face and continued her work, long fluid keystrokes creating strings of data on the computer screen, illuminating her face. Stopping, she sighed, ran her fingers through her hair – realising it needed a cut last month – then stopped and stared at the screen. She exhaled loudly.
‘What the…?’
She typed in the data string again, more slowly this time, then sat back and watched as the screen refreshed. She shook her head in disbelief and flipped her phone open. Hitting the speed dial, she got up and stretched.
‘‘lo?’ a voice answered.
‘Dan, it’s me, Sarah. We have a problem.’
‘What do you mean, it’s gone? Where?’
Dan sat at Sarah’s desk, re-arranging data on the screen and re-checking her work.
‘If I knew where, I would’ve said so on the phone – and don’t look at me like that, I’ve already double-checked the information before I phoned you. Look – no transponder signal anywhere. The hijackers must’ve destroyed it.’
She pointed as the computer screen once more filtered through the search strings and stopped. They both looked at the screen – nothing. Dan threw his pen down on the desk and sighed. ‘We’re screwed.’
‘Maybe not.’ Philippa walked into the room and wandered over to Sarah’s desk, looking at the computer screen. ‘There are ways to find out.’
‘Right,’ said Sarah, sounding unconvinced. ‘Well, if you can find a missing freighter, she’s all yours,’ she added, and pushed the computer keyboard towards the other woman.
Philippa sat down at the desk and cracked her knuckles. Sarah glanced at Dan and rolled her eyes. He smiled, and put a finger to his lips.
‘You two get some rest – I’ll do this,’ said Philippa. ‘The thing is,’ she explained, ‘what you get on subscriber websites is filtered information. What we want to see is everything recorded by the tracking system and uploaded to the satellite.’
‘How do you do that?’ asked Sarah, now intrigued.
Philippa grinned. ‘Dial up the satellite and ask it – nicely, of course.’
Chapter 42
Arctic Ocean
Brogan took a gulp of coffee and leaned against the side of the ship. The sun gave the grey clouds streaks of white and caught the waves in places, casting shadows across the sea. He squinted and glanced up at the ice-breaker in front of them. So far, they’d been making good progress but he guessed the ships would slow down once they reached Severnya Zemlya. He turned as the door next to him opened.
One of the hijackers stepped onto the deck and lit a cigarette. Brogan ignored him, took another sip of coffee and contemplated the endless grey scenery.
Brogan stepped through the studded metal doorway and into the cargo hold, the freighter’s engines rumbling through the soul of the ship and resonating through the walls.