industrial overlord

Chapter 627 Gulf of Aden

In the distant Gulf of Aden, a 4-ton super-large transport ship marked with the words "Hanyuan 6" is breaking through the waves on the blue sea.

The captain Xu Hongyi stood in the cockpit, held up the binoculars and looked at the sea ahead for a while, then turned his head and smiled and said to a woman in her early 30s standing beside him: "Mr. We will be able to reach Port Sudan in another 4 days. If all goes well, the unloading can be completed within two days. The land transportation time is calculated as 15 days, and you hope to ship the equipment before March 3. I think there is more than enough time.”

The woman smiled slightly and said: "Captain Xu, I'm really sorry that everyone is still sailing at sea on the first day of the Lunar New Year. However, there is really no way, this is a major issue related to whether our country's power plant equipment can open up in Africa , After arriving in Port Sudan, I will be the host, and I will make up for everyone a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, and express my apologies."

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

This woman is naturally He Lan, and her current identity is a director of the National Machinery and Electronics Import and Export Corporation.The ship "Hanyuan 4" transported is the first main engine equipment for power generation jointly manufactured by Hanhua Heavy Industry and Xingbei Heavy Machinery for the Equatorial Power Plant of the Republic of Goma in Africa. According to the contract, these equipment It needs to be transported to the power plant site by March 3 for the groundbreaking ceremony to be held on Goma's Independence Day.

This set of equipment in Goma was exported through the Machinery and Electronics Import and Export Corporation. He Lan was the person in charge of the export project. Of course, Lin Zhenhua didn't know about this.He has been looking for He Lan all the time, but he never knew that He Lan is actually by his side, and many of Hanhua's export business is completed under the attention of He Lan.

He Lan understands the importance of the Goma project and the requirements on delivery time very clearly.Originally, it was not up to her, the director, to take charge of such things as escorting the ship and equipment, but she thought that this was a project of Hanhua, and it was of great importance, so she couldn't let it go, so she offered to do it herself Responsible for escort.

Of course, He Lan chose to go to Africa for a business trip at this time, and she also meant to avoid celebrating the Spring Festival in China.In these years, whenever she went home for the Spring Festival, her mother would chatter about her marriage, so she hid whenever she could.On the first day of the Lunar New Year, she was in the vast sea, and she didn't even have a mobile phone signal, so her ears were quiet.

"Captain Xu, now that our ship has entered the Gulf of Aden, shouldn't we encounter any more storms?" He Lan asked, "I'm really worried that the bad weather will affect the voyage during the journey. .”

Xu Hongyi said: "The wind and waves in the spring and autumn are relatively small in the Indian Ocean, and the wind and waves are relatively strong in summer and winter. However, we were lucky and didn't encounter any big waves along the way. Now that the ship has sailed into the Gulf of Aden, there should be no problems. The sea conditions are bad. As for the Red Sea, it belongs to the inland sea, and the wind and waves are even more insignificant."

"That's great, it seems that our journey is really smooth." He Lan said happily.

Xu Hongyi frowned slightly, and said: "It's too early to say this, Director He, don't you know? The Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea area are areas where pirates are very rampant. Although we don't have to worry about the impact of sea conditions, but Just be careful not to encounter pirates."

"Pirates?" He Lan's eyes widened. "In this day and age, why are there still pirates?"

At the beginning of the 21st century, when ordinary Chinese people mentioned the word pirate, they could still think of the three-masted sailing ship with the skull flag.Everyone does not know that in places such as Malacca and the Gulf of Aden, there are still many modern pirates active, threatening the safety of passing merchant ships at any time.

Xu Hongyi has always been on ocean routes, so he is very familiar with the phenomenon of piracy. Every time he sails through the waters of the Gulf of Aden, he has to sweat, for fear of encountering these lawless gangsters.On ordinary merchant ships, there are no weapons. If they encounter pirates, the crew can only watch them rob the ship.

"There have always been pirates." Xu Hongyi explained to He Lan, "Look, to the south of us is Somalia. Due to years of wars, Somalia's economy is very impoverished, which forces many people to take risks and embark on This road relies on the sea to eat the sea. In Somalia, there are many guns and rocket launchers scattered among the people, and pirates use such weapons to hijack merchant ships."

"Then if we encounter pirates, is there any way to deal with them?" He Lan asked.

"There is no way." Xu Hongyi said, "When merchant ships from all over the world encounter pirates, they can only choose to submit, because merchant ships have no weapons at all and cannot fight against pirates. Fortunately, pirates do not kill for money. Yes, their purpose of hijacking the ship is firstly for the property on board, and secondly for asking for ransom. Therefore, as long as the crew does not resist, their lives are completely safe.

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

"Of course, that's the only way to go." Xu Hongyi said frankly. Seeing that He Lan was quite nervous, he thought she was worried about her own safety, so he comforted him: "Also, pirates generally don't take the entire ship's people away. They are all detained, because it is very troublesome for them to take care of these people's food and drink. They usually release some old, weak, sick and disabled people first, and lesbians are also released first, so Director He doesn't have to worry. "

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

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

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

Xu Hongyi said: "The standards are different. Sometimes it is hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes it may be millions, depending on the value of the goods. But no matter how high the amount is, it is not too high. If there are tens of millions of dollars, The pirates didn’t dare to take it anymore, they were also afraid that others would retaliate against them after paying the ransom.”

A few million dollars is indeed not a big number for this shipment of goods.The total value of this project in the Republic of Goma is more than 2 million U.S. dollars, and a few million is just equivalent to the cost of insurance. He Lan is a little relieved.She thought for a while, and then asked another question: "Then, Captain Xu, if this situation really happens, how long does it usually take for the two parties to negotiate and then pay the ransom to release the ship?"

Xu Hongyi said: "This time is relatively long, sometimes a month is also possible. You think, pirates don't dare to negotiate with the ship owner in person, they must find a middleman. If they come and go again and again, the time will be delayed."

"Then..." He Lan said in surprise, "Then we won't be able to catch up with the time?"

"He Zhichang, do you take it seriously?" Xu Hongyi felt a little funny, "What we are talking about is not just a possibility? I have been sailing in the Gulf of Aden for more than ten years, and I have never encountered a pirate. I just When chatting with foreign seafarers in the seamen's club, I heard them talk about their experience of being hijacked."

"What if?" He Lan said very seriously, "I mean, if our ship is detained by pirates for a month, wouldn't we be in trouble?"

Xu Hongyi said: "Director He, if such a situation happens, you don't have to worry. The delay in delivery due to pirate hijacking is an effect of force majeure, and the contract will stipulate exemption from liability. There are various risks in sea transportation. There will be, when encountering losses, some can be exempted, and some can be compensated through the insurance company, I have experienced too many such things."

He Lan shook her head slowly and said, "Captain Xu, the cargo situation this time is a bit different. The other party is planning to hold a groundbreaking ceremony on the Independence Day. At that time, dozens of political leaders from various African countries will come to watch the ceremony. For Hanhua Heavy Industry... and Xingbei Heavy Machinery, it is a very good publicity opportunity.

If our equipment cannot be delivered as scheduled, although there are exemption clauses to avoid our economic losses, this loss of reputation is irreparable.If our competitors advertise that Chinese products lack safety guarantees, then the market we have managed to occupy may be lost. "

"Oh... that's right." Only then did Xu Hongyi understand why this young and beautiful director was so concerned about time.In recent years, many large-scale equipment imported and exported by China have been transported by his ships. He has seen with his own eyes that the complete sets of equipment exported from China have increased year by year, while the imported equipment has decreased year by year. Excited and proud of the change.The current 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.

"He Zhichang, you don't have to worry too much. Although pirates are rampant in this sea area, there are so many ships passing by, and pirates are very limited. We will not encounter them." Xu Hongyi could only persuade in this way.

However, things turned out to be contrary to expectations. As soon as Xu Hongyi finished speaking, he saw a crew member rushing in staggeringly, shouting loudly: "Captain! Pirates, pirates!"

"What?" Xu Hongyi and He Lan were both stunned. They both raised their binoculars at the same time and looked in the direction of the crew's finger.

At the place where the sea and the sky meet, several black spots are rapidly rushing towards them.Experienced sailors know that it is the motor speedboat that pirates like to ride most.

(End of this chapter)