Zero Day_ A Novel - Mark Russinovich [38]
Managed with a spare crew of just forty Filipino seamen, The Illustrious Goddess was only possible because of computers and modern technology. Both were needed to design and build her, both were essential to allow her to operate at sea. The ship had been controversial from the start, but her Hong Kong owner had insisted that she be the largest supertanker ever built. So huge was the vessel that it could not steam in the English Channel nor could it pass through either the Suez or Panama canals. But she was entirely suited to load her cargo off the coast of Saudi Arabia at Ras Tanura, the largest such offshore oil facility in the world, then make the passage to Japan and back, at great profit to her owner.
A ship of this size had had problems from the first. Initially she’d had an unplanned vibration that was finally identified as coming from improperly designed gears. At some expense that had been repaired. Then there’d been problems with the sides of the vessel when the ship wasn’t fully loaded. They’d found it essential to maintain a proper balance of crude oil and sea pressure to prevent dangerous cracks from appearing in the structure. Next came a problem with navigation. So immense was the vessel that it had been necessary to include the earth’s rotation when calculating its route.
The primary problem, though, had been control. She was pushed through the seas with just a single enormous screw, also the largest ever built. On most major ships two screws were considered essential to allow the ship to be properly steered and stopped in an emergency. But for reasons of cost, this ship was fitted with just one. During test trials it had proven extremely difficult to turn the ship from its course once it was at speed. Even worse, at slow speeds it couldn’t be turned at all. Nor could tugboats budge the ship when it was fully loaded.
On top of that, the ship just wouldn’t stop.
That was an exaggeration cited by critics of the owner for pushing the envelope to this extent, but in truth the ship was hard to stop indeed. Even with the propeller in full reverse, with the ship’s inertia it took twenty minutes and many miles to bring it to a halt.
All of this caused Shiva great concern. It meant every move of the ship had to be carefully scripted. It meant always thinking far ahead. It meant that smaller vessels had to get out of its course because he had no way to keep the ship from striking them. He was certain that The Illustrious Goddess had sunk small fishing vessels more than once when steaming near a coastline.
To perform his duty meant depending entirely on the computers to get it right. No expense had been spared in creating the finest software system a British company could design.
It also meant worrying all the time, which was why he was scanning the horizon for a glimpse of the Nagasaki offshore facility. The engines should go to “dead slow” any minute as The Illustrious Goddess began to reduce speed for the docking, but the ship had to be maneuvered into exact position before he lost much headway. Once the vessel slowed to a crawl, he wouldn’t be able to dock her if she wasn’t properly aligned.
But what bothered Shiva most of all was that technically even major storms were supposed to be of little concern as the loaded ship unnaturally rode the heaviest waves with scarcely any effect. To Shiva, that was wrong. The sea was the master, always. A ship of this size was arrogance; it showed a contempt for the ocean, and from that could only come a great harm.
“Sonny,” Shiva said. “Do you have it on radar?”
Sonny Olivera glanced up. “Yes, Captain. I’ve got it.”
“Well,