Once he reviewed the officers, Gabi went on to comment on the NCOs, although not individually. They both knew the importance of these, especially with so few officers, as each NCO was head of a division. Altogether he was very happy to know they were all volunteers, positive and proactive. In addition, all of them, whether former servicemen or not, seemed to already have developed the sense of discipline that they were already instilling in the sailors. Everyone seemed to know their job well and the cook was a virtuoso of the stove. A well-fed crew is a happy crew.
As for the seamen, all Gabi had to say was that if they followed the guidelines of their leaders they would have no problems. Again, the fact that they were all volunteers, knew the mission of the ship and, why not say it, were well paid, made for good performance. Gabi was especially satisfied with the meticulous screening they had carried out, even going as far as to contact former employers to make sure the candidates were hardworking and willing.
Pablo thanked Gabi for his sincerity and apologized for the shoptalk, after which he took some papers from his pocket and showed them to him. The papers contained designs of uniforms and badges for the crew. They had decided that a uniform would help keep the environment they wanted to have on board and Pablo had personally taken on the task of selecting them.
The main piece was a blue, fireproof jumpsuit with Velcro fastenings instead of buttons or a zipper and also a Velcro belt. The main objective was comfort and practicality. Under the jumpsuit, they would wear a blue T-shirt. The shoes were mid-calf boots with a reinforced toe. Pablo had made sure that they were the best on the market: safe, light and most of all comfortable. He had not yet established mandatory headgear, although there would be ball caps and beanies available for the whole crew to wear, also work and wool gloves and a neck gaiter, everything top of the line. There were also parkas, overcoats, rain gear, rubber boots and other items commonly worn on a boat. They even supplied polarized sunglasses in different sizes to avoid the use of personal accessories. The idea was to provide everything that the crew needed for their uniforms so they wouldn’t need to wear their own clothing.
In anticipation of the temperatures they expected to find, he had also ordered blue pants to wear with just the T-shirt. In this case, the T-shirt must be the regulation shirt and be worn tucked into the pants to avoid the risk of snags and the unpleasant experience of seeing someone’s butt crack.
All items of clothing were engraved with Albatros either on the back or on the leg. The intention was to promote a sense of group or entity and Pablo had already planned a contest to find a badge for the ship later on.
Regarding ranks, Pablo had decided to base theirs on a similar hierarchical system used by the Navy but changing the insignia. The officers would have yellow horizontal bars; three for himself, two for Gabi and one for the others, (Grease, Paco, Joseba, Ana, and Esther). The NCOs would have one or two orange vertical bars according to the seniority issued to them (figuring that out had brought on more than a headache at first). The petty officers would wear a red circle and seamen the upper semicircle. This would allow them to keep a system of equivalences that they were used to but with enough differences to separate them from the Navy. The insignia would be worn on the chest of the jumpsuit and engraved on the T-shirts.
Pablo was tempted to have a dress uniform but he knew it would be useless so he discarded the idea.
“Very American,” opined Gabi. “I like it. It’s very practical.”
With that, they set aside work and ordered their first drink. That evening would have ended much later had the two seamen not been fully aware of the work ahead and the need to be at a hundred percent for the next days.
Chapter Five
Pablo reviewed the events of recent days as he headed to the quarterdeck. They were sailing the Mediterranean transiting towards the Suez Canal. They had finished fine tuning the ship in record time and had set a course for the Indian Ocean five days earlier.
The crew was complete. They were a total of eighty-two men and women. This included the helicopter maintenance team and the boarding team. Pablo only regretted not having been able to find a navigation officer. They just couldn’t find anyone suitable for the position. This had left Gabi and him to keep watch on the bridge, so they had hired a young sailor named Miguel. He had very little experience but he had a good career and had excellent references.
This way, they had someone to navigate the ship even though he needed supervision but now they could have three watches. They had not been able to qualify Grease as deck officer. Normally as captain, Pablo wouldn’t keep watch. But he knew dividing the load between Miguel and Gabi would wear upon both the men, especially Gabi, and Pablo wanted them both at a hundred percent. At his age it wouldn’t be a big deal to keep watch and besides, it would give him an opportunity to get used to the ship. He wanted to arrive in Somalia as familiar with Albatros as if he had skippered her for years, and the best way to do that was by spending hours on the bridge.
As for Albatros, she was completely equipped and ready to be in the area of operations for the time required (refueling and stocking up, of course). The helicopter was on board, as well as all the armament, medications, and all the other necessary items.
The day before leaving, Reyes had given the crew some final instructions. In case they captured pirates, they would be handed over to Somali authorities as soon as possible. The crew had to keep in mind at all times that they were sailing under the Somali flag and all papers on board backed that up. However, they would receive all their orders from Reyes.
The only thing the Somali government asked was that they help anyone who was in distress within its area of influence, which was certainly not a conflict of interests for Albatros and her crew. Reyes had met with Pablo and Gabi, and had discussed the strategy they would follow. The three had agreed that they had too little information to develop a detailed plan, so they had agreed to initially only escort Alps Tankers’ oilers. During the dead time in between Pablo would have freedom of action. He had requested to begin their stay in the area of operations with a port visit in the Seychelles. That would allow the crew a few days rest after the intense journey that was planned. The Seychelles are more civilized than Somalia and the crew would be able to rest and enjoy themselves in a friendlier and safer environment, something the ports in Western Africa couldn’t offer. It would be an authentic tropical paradise. Pablo knew that the opportunity to spend their first well-earned paycheck after intense navigation would encourage and motivate the crew.
As for operations, Reyes had stressed to them that their employer had already lost three ships at the hands of pirates and that the idea was to nip the problem in the bud, but with the information they had up to now there wasn’t much they could do. So it was essential to collect as much data as possible.
Regarding international military forces in the area, Reyes had used his contacts to secure the approval of NATO and the European Union, although not their cooperation. Their operatives had been advised of their presence there but they were not about to share information with them. Reyes had urged them to call the commodore of European forces to at least maintain contact and report any sightings, attacks and other important events. The military there would value the advantages of having another ally in the area, even if their political superiors didn’t see it the same way.
Pablo stopped at the end of the flight deck watching the scene unfolding below in the quarterdeck. Following the training plan prepared with the aid of the executive officer they were conducting a man overboard exercise with the deck watch personnel. The exercise was simple; it began by throwing a lifesaver in the water with an orange distress flare. Once the supposed crew member was in the water the alarm was activated at the bridge, and from there action was taken.
It was Gabi’s watch, so Pablo had decided to leave the bridge to his executive officer and had gone to the quarterdeck to watch the RHIB being lowered onto the water with the rescue swimmer and the ship’s nurse (which Esther had finally found). The exercise was pre-programmed. As he went down the ladder to the quarterdeck Pablo observed how the first steps were carried out quickly and smoothly.
Pablo saw the operator of the RHIB and the rescue swimmer,