Chapter 118 Chapter 118 One Ship Missing
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In the end, the croaker was not eaten. Gu Mengran and Liang Zhao dropped their bowls and chopsticks and ran straight to the cab. They ran from the third floor to the top floor in five minutes and pushed open the heavy door of the cab.
The dim light fell on the ground, and the cabin was unusually quiet. The captain, the first mate and several crew members gathered in front of the bridge, staring at the radar display intently, but no unnecessary movement could be heard.
Gu Mengran was out of breath after running all the way and was more anxious than anyone else.
But when he really got to the driver's seat, he was suddenly a little afraid to go closer, fearing a misunderstanding and his expectations would be dashed.
As if he had guessed what was in his mind, Liang Zhao held his hand hanging by his side and gently stroked the back of his hand with his thumb, as if to comfort him silently.
The two people entered the room with quite a lot of noise. Ding Pengyi looked back and stamped his feet anxiously, "Come here, you two, what are you standing there for? Hurry up!"
Liang Zhao responded and hurried forward, pulling Gu Mengran.
The crew members who came to join in the fun kindly made way, and the radar display was presented in front of them without reservation. Gu Mengran stood on the control panel with Liang Zhao, took a deep breath, and looked over carefully.
The radar equipped on the Giant is much more expensive than the riverboat radar, and the difference in function is not even a little bit. It can clearly capture everything from large ships and reefs to small floating objects and even foam stirred up by waves.
Its detection distance is also very long. Even if it is affected by the curvature of the earth and wind and waves, the detection distance of the sea level can reach 40 nautical miles.
The detection range is increased for nighttime navigation, and the distance circles on the screen are adjusted from 1.5 nautical miles to 5 nautical miles.
Eight neat circles spread out like ripples, covering exactly 40 nautical miles, and on the edge of the last large circle, two inconspicuous red dots appeared at some point.
40 nautical miles = about 74 kilometers. The distance is still very far, and the red dot is particularly blurry, but you can vaguely see the shape and size of the ship.
It was similar to the description in the logbook. The larger ship was a multi-layered structure, very similar to a container freight ship, while the smaller ship was flat, with not much of the hull exposed above the water, and it was obviously a river ship.
The distance was shortened little by little as the Giant moved, but the two little red dots remained at the same position, motionless.
The probability of encountering a ship in the ocean is not low, and they have encountered several ships in the past month. If it was just a cruise ship or a bulk carrier, Gu Mengran would not dare to hold out too much hope, but the characteristics of the two ships are very similar, and there are only two ships.
Yongyue, Fengyi and Decheng, one cruise ship and two bulk carriers, how can they be two ships?
Gu Mengran was not good at hiding his emotions, and he was visibly panicking. His body was tense, his lips were pressed into a straight line, and under his frowning brows, his dim eyes flashed with deep anxiety.
"Small--"
Ding Pengyi saw this and was about to speak to comfort him, but the first mate patted Gu Mengran on the shoulder and said solemnly, "Don't worry too much. There are still many ships in the East China Sea. Maybe other cruise ships and river boats just happened to go together, not necessarily your grandfather and his friends."
"What are you talking about, Lao Wan? Is there anyone as comforting as you?"
Brother Wan: "What's wrong with me? This is not the truth—"
"Go," Ding Pengyi pushed Brother Wan away and rolled his eyes at him viciously, "Go wherever you want. I know you can't spit out ivory from your dog's mouth."
After saying that, Ding Pengyi squeezed next to Gu Mengran and immediately changed his tone, whispering softly: "Don't listen to your uncle Wan, he's talking nonsense! Cruise ships are rare, and they are parked together with a river boat. It's most likely your grandpa and his friends."
He also knew that there were originally three ships. He glanced at Gu Mengran's increasingly solemn expression and continued, "It's cold and the distance is far, so the signal received by the radar will have a certain error. Don't worry too much, old captain, good luck will come to you, everything will be fine."
"I, I know Uncle Ding." Gu Mengran tightly grasped Liang Zhao's hand and looked at Ding Pengyi with pleading eyes, "We have to go over to confirm it anyway, right? Then let's..."
Ding Pengyi nodded vigorously, "Go, go now!"
"Helmsman, old man, get to work!"
Captain Ding hurried away with the walkie-talkie, but in just a few minutes, the cockpit, which should have been silent with the night, became busy again.
The crew looks out, the helmsman turns the rudder, the crew in the engine room monitors the instruments and equipment... Everyone does their job, like countless hands pushing together, pushing this huge steel behemoth to speed up its voyage.
Gu Mengran stood in front of the control panel in a daze, as if he had lost his soul.
His current condition was not suitable for work, but he refused to leave the cab, so Liang Zhao could only take him to a corner where he would not be in the way.
Liang Zhao gently pressed Gu Mengran onto the chair, then squatted in front of him, patted his knees, and asked softly, "We haven't had a bite of the croaker we've been craving for yet. Our bowls are still in the restaurant. I'll bring them up for you to try."
"I have no appetite," Gu Mengran shook his head and refused. He lowered his eyes to meet Liang Zhao's gaze, but he felt a little reluctant and said in a muffled voice, "Don't worry about me. You've been tired all afternoon. Go fill your stomach first."
"I'm not hungry either." Liang Zhao sat cross-legged on the ground, supporting his elbows on Gu Mengran's thighs, and looked at him with his head tilted.
40 nautical miles is not far. At the speed of the Giant, it would take about 3 hours in calm seas. But at night, the vision is limited and the wind and waves are strong. At the current speed of 7 knots, it would conservatively take 6 hours.
It was very tiring to just wait here. Liang Zhao looked at the distraught Gu Mengran, squeezed his hand, and broke the silence again: "The ship is sailing very slowly now, so we'll have to wait for a long time. How about going back to the cabin and rest first? I'll be waiting in the cockpit and call you when we're almost there."
Gu Mengran said nothing and just kept shaking his head.
Liang Zhao felt bad for his appearance, but he had no other options. He could only comfort him with some pale words, "Look at it from a positive perspective. This is our most hopeful time, right? I have a feeling that it's the Wind Wing."
"But, but there is one boat missing." Gu Mengran hung his head, as if he was about to cry. His eye sockets and nose tip were tinged with crimson, and his face became paler.
Liang Zhao felt so distressed that he stroked his red eyes with his thumb and soothed him softly, "There are many possibilities for losing a ship, just like what Uncle Ding said just now-"
"How can there be so many possibilities? If one ship is missing, there are only three possibilities."
Gu Mengran interrupted Liang Zhao, sniffed, and analyzed in a muffled voice: "Either the radar did not detect the signal of the other ship, but this is almost impossible. The Giant is a supertanker, equipped with top-notch equipment. There is no reason for three ships to see two."
"The second possibility is just like what the first mate said, that it wasn't Grandpa and his family. This possibility is possible, but I, I hope it was Grandpa and his family. It's too difficult to find them. After two or three months, we finally found a little clue..."
Speaking of the third possibility, Gu Mengran instantly became nervous again, his shoulders trembling violently, his voice choked and panicked: "Grandpa and his men are in trouble, maybe, maybe they lost a ship."
"Meng Ran." Liang Zhao couldn't sit still anymore, so he quickly stood up from the ground, put his arms around his shoulders and half-hugged him in his arms.
They were still in the cockpit, and it would be bad if others saw them being too intimate, but Liang Zhao didn't care about that. He restrained himself and kissed the top of his head, whispering, "Yes, there is indeed such a possibility, but the damage is definitely not to the Wind Wing."
"Didn't you say that? The Fengyi is not an ordinary river boat. Its ability to withstand wind and waves is even better than that of the Yongyue. What's more, the person driving it is my grandfather, a grandfather with rich sailing experience."
"The Yongyue ship is safe and sound, and Fengyi will definitely be fine. As for the missing ship, it should be the Decheng. As you know, the ship that Brother Luo and his crew had is quite old. And I don't think it was the wind and waves that overturned the ship. I am more inclined to believe that they voluntarily abandoned the Decheng."
"Give up?" Gu Mengran chewed on these two words over and over again. His eyes were still dull, but he was obviously much more relaxed and his body was no longer so stiff.
Strike while the iron is hot. Liang Zhao nodded and continued to analyze, "Yes. They were separated from us and lost Heng Rongsheng 2. They simply didn't have enough fuel for this long voyage. It was fine before entering the sea. They could reach the East China Sea by going from top to bottom and following the current."
"But after entering the sea, the ships have to withstand the wind and waves, and consume fuel for heating. If three ships are sailing together, the consumption will be too great and the fuel will be exhausted in a short time."
"The best solution at this time is to concentrate the fuel on one ship, with the largest ship, Yongyue, going out to tow the two smaller ships. Three ships consume three times the fuel, while one towing two only requires about 1.5 times the fuel."
Having said this, Liang Zhao paused and deliberately remained silent.
Gu Mengran waited for a long time but got no follow-up words, so anxiously he elbowed him, "Hurry up, why are you giving up now?"
Liang Zhao stopped keeping the secret, pursed his lips and sighed silently, "Because the fuel is running low, they can no longer afford to carry two ships at once. The Decheng is a spare ship. In the absence of fuel, she has become a burden. It is only a matter of time before she is abandoned."
Gu Mengran listened carefully and remained silent for a long time after listening.
It took so long that Liang Zhao thought he was starting to have wild thoughts again. When he was about to speak to comfort him, he suddenly raised his chin and nodded thoughtfully, "That makes sense. Put yourself in his shoes. If I were your grandfather, I would also give up the Decheng."
The stone pressing on his chest was removed by Liang Zhao, and the haze lingering above his head was swept away. Gu Mengran's tense nerves gradually relaxed, and he felt his breathing became much smoother.
Well, I'm hungry too.
His stomach protested with dissatisfaction, making a "gurgling" sound. Liang Zhao did not laugh at him. He stretched out his hand to scratch his chin and loosened the shackles. "I'll go downstairs and bring the bowl up."
"Don't." Gu Mengran grabbed his hand and stood up with him. "40 nautical miles won't be reached in a short time. Let's go down and eat together. It's not good to eat in the cabin."
"Well, let's go."
After such a long delay, the food naturally got cold. Fortunately, Gu Mengran was quite popular and could talk to the chef in the kitchen, so he asked him to heat it up for him.
The taste of the reheated shrimps was not affected at all, the meat was firm, fresh and delicious, I couldn't stop eating one bite at a time. It was a pity that the reheated croaker was not crispy at all, it tasted tough and I always felt like something was missing.
After eating and drinking, Gu Mengran returned to the cockpit. He had already sorted out his mood. With the captain's approval, he and Liang Zhao joined the team to drive the Giant.
The night voyage was dull and tedious. At the beginning, the crew members were still in the mood to chat, using bragging as a refreshing coffee. But in the second half of the night, the chattering gradually weakened and finally disappeared, leaving only the hum of mechanical equipment in the entire cockpit.
I was sleepy. After getting up early and staying up late, Gu Mengran was also very sleepy.
It felt like a century had passed, but when I looked at the time, only four hours had passed.
In the last 12 nautical miles, Gu Mengran looked at the dark and deep sea ahead, which looked like a mysterious black hole. He sincerely hoped to see a ray of light and a ship named Fengyi.
“Sizzle, sizzle…”
A faint sound of electricity broke the silence, coming from the high-frequency call station behind him.
Gu Mengran turned around suddenly and saw the crew member on duty holding a pager and shouting excitedly, "Captain, Captain, there is a signal coming in on the common channel!"
Ding Pengyi, who was dozing off in the corner, woke up instantly. He took two steps at a time and ran to the call desk. He wiped his face randomly and said, "What are you standing there for? Call the other side!"
"Oh, okay."
The crew pressed the pager and became serious in an instant: "Attention all ships, attention all ships, I am the Giant, my ship is at 24° North Latitude, East Longitude——"
"Why are you so honest? I asked you to call, not to warn." Ding Pengyi glared at the crew member unhappily and snatched the pager from his hand.
In troubled times, there is no need to follow any rules or observe any damn etiquette. Ding Pengyi pressed the pager and shouted in the most primitive way: "Yongyue, Fengyi, can you hear me? Fengyi! Meng Gaoyang, your grandson is in my hands!"
"Hello, hello, Wind Wing, Ever Leap..."
It turns out that having a loud voice doesn't help.
The high-frequency signal was not disconnected, and there was still only the "hissing" sound of the current.
As if trying to save his dignity, Ding Pengyi sighed and muttered softly: "12 nautical miles is still a bit far for VHF. It's normal that the signal is not good."
But just as he finished speaking, a man's voice came from the high-frequency sizzling sound: "@* number? Zizi&...? Here @%&..."
Hearing the long-lost human voice, everyone in the cab suddenly became excited, but only one word could be heard... Everyone looked at each other, seemingly at a loss as to how to respond.
At this time, the benefits of having an experienced captain are immediately apparent.
"In situations like this, when the signal is particularly poor and the voice is intermittent, don't waste your words. Just repeat what you said and ask the other party to repeat their response."
Ding Pengyi gave instructions to the crew, then pressed the pager and said in a serious tone: "Feng Yi, Feng Yi, Feng Yi, Feng Yi... Please answer directly when you hear me, yes or no, yes or no, yes or no..."
His personal demonstration not only taught the crew in the wheelhouse, but also the people on the other end of the high frequency, who soon gave the standard response: "##@&yes...yes@#*yes."
"yes!"
One word is enough.
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