Chapter 251 Bad Luck
Chapter 251 Bad Luck
Ten years ago, Cheng Yanfei was only the third mate on a ship owned by the shipowner, mainly responsible for the maintenance and management of life-saving equipment, but at that time, he had already witnessed the cruelty of pirates and also trained his courage.
Although most of the crew members of the Xindu had not encountered such a situation for a long time, and some even encountered it for the first time, under the leadership of Cheng Yanfei, they resolutely gathered on the deck with simple blunt weapons they found temporarily and high morale.
There are also three basic security personnel on the Xindu, who are mainly responsible for maintaining order on the ship and protecting the safety of crew members, ships and cargo.
However, according to the practice of international civil shipping, as well as the marine control laws and regulations of various countries and maritime authorities, civilian merchant ships are not allowed to carry weapons. The navies of various countries also emphasize that cargo ships sailing internationally must not have weapons, otherwise they will be regarded as pirates when sailing on the sea.
In fact, the reason is very simple. If everyone passing by a road is allowed to carry weapons just because there are bandits on it, the consequence is that everyone on the road may turn into a bandit who robs people at any time, which will also cause the proliferation of weapons, and increase the difficulty of suppressing bandits.
So countries can only send escort fleets at a great cost.
This led to the fact that when cargo ships arrived at ports of various countries at that time, others were as if they were facing a great enemy, and they carried out various inspections and guards, and some even refused to dock directly.
This is actually understandable. Now foreign merchant ships carrying heavy weapons are also not allowed to dock, otherwise if KB elements are mixed in, the consequences will be unimaginable.
So in 1983, when the official navigation was realized and the surrounding marine situation was also eased, the regulations allowing merchant ships to carry heavy weapons were immediately cancelled.
Therefore, the three security personnel of Xindu only carried light weapons such as pistols. If they really encountered such pirate robbery, they would at most organize the crew to defend themselves and shoot a few shots to scare the timid pirates.
But in fact, the effect is very limited. After all, pirates usually hold AK47s with more powerful firepower. How could they be afraid of small pistols…
As time passed, although the Xindu had completed a 360-degree turn, the distance between the five pirate speedboats was getting closer and closer.
The relative speed of the two sides was at least 40 knots, so it actually took less than five minutes for the pirates to catch up with the Xindu.
Until they got closer, Cheng Yanfei saw more clearly that their speedboat was actually an armored boat with thick steel plates! Cheng Yanfei couldn’t help but ask the security captain Tan Zhihao: “Why does this look like a military speedboat? When did pirates have this kind of speedboat?”
Tan Zhihao put down the telescope and shook his head solemnly:
”I haven’t seen it either. It may not be from Somalia. And you pay attention to the weapons in their hands. Although they are all AK47s, they are very new. There is also a rocket carrier on each speedboat…”
”Boss Cheng, the situation is a bit wrong this time. I think it’s better not to fight hard if you can…”
Da Da Da——
Da Da Da——
As soon as Tan Zhihao finished speaking, several pirates on the speedboat in the front had already started firing at the sky, making gestures to the crew on the deck, and shouting words that no one could understand or hear at all.
Although some of the crew members were so nervous that their bodies were stiff and their palms were sweating, Boss Cheng did not speak and no one backed down. They just stared at the pirates and prepared to stop them from boarding the ship.
”Don’t be afraid, pirates hijack ships for money. They only shoot to scare us, not to really shoot at us!” Cheng Yanfei looked calm and encouraged everyone at the right time, “What we have to do is to try to stop them from boarding the ship and wait for rescue!”
His words did ease everyone’s tension.
Because what Cheng Yanfei said was true. Under normal circumstances, pirates will try their best to avoid casualties among crew members, because after seizing the ship, hostages are their “money” and their golden ticket to avoid death. If people are really killed or injured, it will anger the military of various countries and be targeted or hunted down, which will do them no good but harm.
So the most common scene of pirates boarding a ship is like an ancient siege, with pirates trying to climb up using props such as grappling hooks, while the crew uses sticks, fire hoses and other tools to fend off the pirates.Guns and other props to shoot down the climbing pirates.
As for the pirates shooting on the speedboat, they are actually members of the atmosphere group.
If they encounter strong resistance and cannot get up, the pirates will usually give up decisively and look for the next target, trying to find an easy target.
Therefore, in most cases, merchant ships will symbolically resist pirates to see how strong the other party is. Otherwise, if they give up resistance directly when encountering pirates, then the success rate of pirates will be 100%.
Of course, everything has certain risks. If you are unlucky and encounter a very small number of vicious pirates, you may also kill the chicken to scare the monkey…
And this time, the luck of Xindu was obviously very bad.
When the security team leader Tan Zhihao keenly saw the action of a pirate, he screamed in horror: “Lie down! Lie down quickly!”
“Da da da——!!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a dense gunshot suddenly rang out, and at the same time, the hull and the side of the ship also made dense metal friction and collision sounds!
These pirates actually shot directly at the crew!
No one expected that after seeing that the crew of the Xindu was not moved at all and looked like they were going to fight to the end, the small leader on the speedboat actually instructed his men to raise their AKs and start shooting at the crew on the side of the ship! “Back off, everyone back off!”
Cheng Yanfei was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to his senses, and while lying back, he asked loudly: “Is anyone injured?!”
“No!”
“I’m fine!”
“…”
As the frightened crew members answered one after another, Cheng Yanfei quickly glanced at the deck, and only after confirming that there were really no casualties did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Somali pirates’ gunmanship is very casual, and their best move is to hold the gun above their heads and shoot crazily with their eyes closed. In addition, the speedboat has a lot of ups and downs, so even if they really want to hit someone, it is actually quite difficult.
But when they board the ship, the distance is close, so it’s hard to say.
Therefore, after seeing the brutality of these people, Cheng Yanfei immediately gave up the idea of resistance, picked up the intercom and said loudly: “The engine group quickly stopped all engines and generators! Remember to cut off the power of the entire ship!”
”Everyone hide on the lower deck, lock the hatch and wait for rescue! Remember to stay together as much as possible, do not turn on lighting equipment such as flashlights, and do not make any noise!”
(End of this chapter)