In the distant Gulf of Aden, a 60,000-ton oversized transport ship marked with the word "Hanyuan" is breaking the waves on the blue sea.

Captain Xu Hongyi stood in the cockpit, held a telescope and looked at the sea in front of him for a while, then turned around and smiled and said to a woman in her early 30s standing beside him: "Where is the chief, don't worry, according to the current sailing speed, we will be able to reach Port Sudan in four days."

If it goes well, the unloading can be completed within two days. The land transportation time is calculated as 5 days, and you want to get the equipment in place by March 10th, and I think the time is more than enough. ”

The woman smiled slightly and said, "Captain Xu, I'm really sorry to make everyone sail on the sea on the first day of the Lunar New Year." However, there is really no way, this is a major event involving whether our country's power plant equipment can open up the situation in Africa, and when I arrive in Port Sudan, I will make up a hearty Chinese New Year's Eve dinner for everyone and apologize. ”

Xu Hongyi said: "This is what we should do, don't care where it is." But the chief also accompanied us to celebrate the New Year at sea, which is really admirable. By the way, where is the chief, this batch of equipment is so important, do you have to be the director of the mechanical and electrical import and export company to personally escort the ship? ”

This woman is naturally He Lan, and her current identity is a director of the National Mechanical and Electrical Import and Export Corporation. The "Hanyuan PT" ship was transported by the first power generation host equipment jointly manufactured by Hanhua Heavy Industries and Xingbei Heavy Machinery for the Equatorial Power Plant in the Republic of Goma, Africa, and according to the contract, these equipment need to be transported to the power plant site before March 10 in order to hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Goma's Independence Day.

This set of equipment in Goma was exported through the Electromechanical Import and Export Company, and He Lan was the person in charge of this export project, of course, Lin Zhenhua did not know about this. He had been looking for He Lan, but he never knew that He Lan was actually by his side, and many of Hanhua's export operations were completed under He Lan's attention.

He Lan understands the importance of the project in Goma and the requirements for delivery time. Originally, it was not her turn to be the director of the department to escort ships and equipment like this, but she thought that this was a Hanhua project and the stakes were very important, so she couldn't let go of it, so she offered to be in charge of the escort herself.

Of course, He Lan chose to go to Africa on a business trip at this time, which also means to avoid spending the Spring Festival in China. Over the years, whenever she went home for the Spring Festival, her mother would nagging about her marriage, so she could hide. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, she was on the vast sea, and she didn't even have a mobile phone signal, but she was quiet.

"Captain Xu, now that our ship has entered the Gulf of Aden, there shouldn't be any more strong winds and waves, right?" He Lan asked, "On the way here, I'm really worried about bad weather affecting the voyage." ”

Xu Hongyi said: "In the Indian Ocean, the wind and waves in the spring and autumn seasons are smaller, and the summer and winter seasons are larger, but we are still lucky, and we have not encountered any big winds and waves along the way. Now that the ship has sailed into the Gulf of Aden, there should be no bad sea conditions. As for the Red Sea, it belongs to the inland sea, and the wind and waves are even more insignificant. ”

"That's great, it looks like we're going really well." He Lan said happily.

Xu Hongyi frowned slightly, and said, "It's too early to say this, don't you know where it is?" The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea region are areas where piracy is rampant. Although we don't have to worry about the impact of sea conditions, we still have to be careful not to encounter pirates. ”

"Pirates?" He Lan's eyes widened, "In this era, how can there be pirates?" ”

At the beginning of the 21st century, when ordinary Chinese mentioned the word pirate, they could still think of the three-masted galleon with the skull flag. Unbeknownst to you, there are still many modern pirates active in places such as Malacca and the Gulf of Aden, threatening the safety of passing merchant ships at any time.

Xu Hongyi has always been running ocean routes, so he is very familiar with the phenomenon of piracy, and every time he sails through the waters of the Gulf of Aden, he has to sweat for fear of encountering these lawless gangsters. On a normal merchant ship, there are no weapons, and if you encounter pirates, the crew can only watch them rob the ship.

"Pirates have always been there." Xu Hongyi explained to He Lan, "Come and see, to the south of us, is Somalia. The economy of Somalia is very poor due to years of war, which has forced many people to take risks and take this road of living by the sea. In Somalia, there are many guns scattered among the people, as well as rocket launchers, which pirates use to hijack merchant ships. ”

"And if we encounter pirates, is there anything we can do to deal with them?" He Lan asked.

"No way." Xu Hongyi said, "When merchant ships from all over the world encounter pirates, they can only choose to give in, because there are no weapons on merchant ships and they cannot fight against pirates. Fortunately, the pirates did not want to kill their lives, and their purpose in hijacking the ship was to save the ship's property and to demand ransom, so as long as the crew did not resist, their lives were completely guaranteed.

"If we encounter pirates, can't we resist?" He Lan asked with a little pale face.

"Of course, it can only be so." Xu Hongyi said frankly that when he saw He Lan's nervous appearance, he thought that she was worried about her safety, so he comforted: "Also, pirates generally don't detain the entire ship, because it is very troublesome for them to take care of these people's food and drink. They usually release some of the old, weak, sick and disabled first, and lesbians are also given priority to be released, so there is no need to worry about where to grow. ”

He Lan still didn't look a little relaxed, she said: "But, in this way, won't our goods be lost?" ”

Xu Hongyi comforted: "There shouldn't be any problems with our cargo, our ships are full of some equipment, and it's useless for pirates to rob them, I guess they will ask for some ransom at most, and then let the ship go." ”

"How much is the ransom in general?" He Lan asked again, she was really worried about this, so she needed to ask all the questions clearly.

Xu Hongyi said: "The standard is not the same, sometimes it is hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes it may be millions, depending on the value of the goods." However, no matter how high the amount is, if there are really tens of millions of dollars, the pirates will not dare to take it, and they are afraid that others will seek revenge after paying the ransom. ”

A few million dollars is really not a lot of money for this shipload of cargo. The total value of this project in the Republic of Goma is many dollars, and a few million is equivalent to the cost of insurance, and He Lan is a little relieved. She thought for a while and asked another question: "So, Captain Xu, if this situation really happens, how long does it generally take for the two sides to negotiate, and then pay the ransom and release the ship?" ”

Xu Hongyi said: "This time is relatively long, and sometimes a month is possible." You think, the pirates don't dare to negotiate with the owner of the ship themselves, they must be looking for an intermediary, and the time will be delayed. ”

"Then ・・・・・・," He Lan said in surprise, "then in this way, won't we be in time?" ”

"Where's the chief, are you still serious?" Xu Hongyi felt a little funny, "Isn't what we're talking about just a possibility?" I've been running in the Gulf of Aden for more than a decade, and I haven't encountered a single pirate. I was just chatting with expatriate seafarers at the Seamen's Club and listening to them talk about their experiences of being hijacked. ”

"What if?" He Lan said very seriously, "I mean, in case, if our ship is detained by pirates for a month, won't it be troublesome?" ”…,

Xu Hongyi said: "Where is the long, in case such a situation occurs, you don't have to worry, because of the pirate hijacking and delaying the delivery, this is the impact of force majeure, and the contract will provide for exemption." There are all kinds of risks in marine transportation, and when I encounter losses, some of them can be exempted, and some of them can be compensated by insurance companies, which I have experienced too much. ”

He Lan shook his head slowly and said, "Captain Xu, the cargo situation this time is a little different. The other party is preparing to hold a groundbreaking celebration on Independence Day, when dozens of dignitaries from African countries will come to watch the ceremony, which is ...... As well as Xingbei Heavy Machinery, it is a very good publicity opportunity.

If our equipment does not arrive on time, there is an exemption clause to avoid our financial loss, but this reputational damage is irreparable. If our competitors advertise that Chinese products lack safety guarantees, then the market that we have managed to occupy may be lost. ”

"Oh・・・・・・ that's right." Only then did Xu Hongyi understand why this young and beautiful female director had been so concerned about time. Over the years, many of the large equipment imported and exported by China has been transported by his ships, and as a Chinese, he is excited and proud of such changes as he has seen China's exports of complete sets of equipment increase year by year, while imported equipment has decreased year by year.

Now the equipment on this ship is related to whether Chinese equipment can fully enter the African market in the future, and he can fully understand the significance of this.

"No matter how long it is, you don't have to worry too much, although piracy is rampant in this area, but there are so many ships passing by, pirates are very limited, we won't meet them." Xu Hongyi could only persuade like this.

However, it backfired, and as soon as Xu Hongyi's words fell, he saw a crew member stumbling in and shouting loudly: "Captain! Pirates, pirates! ”

"What?" Xu Hongyi and He Lan were all stunned, and the two of them invariably raised their binoculars and looked in the direction of the crew's fingers.

I saw that where the sea and the sky met, several black dots were rapidly rushing in their direction. Experienced seafarers know that this is the pirate's favorite speedboat.