Tzeo smiled for the first time in a week. “The Wan Hai telex says we’re free.”
That evening, another telex arrived. FM: WAN HAI LINES, TAIPEI RE: LIABILITY SURVEY CONFIRMED. USD 480,000 PLUS SURVEY FEE (USD 1,200) DUE WITHIN 14 DAYS. VESSEL UNDER DETENTION ORDER. FURTHER DISPUTES WILL INCUR DAILY DEMURRAGE AT USD 1,500. - WAN HAI TELEX Tzeo sat in his cabin. He had no $480,000. The ship’s owner would pay, then take it from his wages for the next ten years. Or simply fire him. wan hai telex
He thought of the shipper in Kaohsiung, the one who had loaded that container. A ghost now. And the consignee in Jakarta, claiming $480,000 for air . A perfect crime. And the only person left holding the bag was a captain with a Wan Hai telex in his hand. Tzeo smiled for the first time in a week
Outside, the sea was calm. But somewhere in Taipei, a clerk was typing a new telex. There was always another telex. This was Wan Hai’s world. Tzeo just sailed in it. USD 480,000 PLUS SURVEY FEE (USD 1,200) DUE WITHIN 14 DAYS
“Wan Hai has frozen us. A surveyor is coming. They’ll cut our seals, open the container, and find nothing but air. Then Wan Hai will bill us for the air, plus damages, plus the surveyor’s coffee.”
The static hissed on the bridge of the MV Stellar Fortune , a sound Captain Tzeo had long stopped noticing. What he noticed was the slip of yellow paper the radioman handed him. The telex. From Wan Hai.
