Chapter 595 Which country's flag is this oil tanker flying?
"What!" Zhao Feiran's expression changed drastically when he heard this, and he stood up suddenly.
Not only did Zhao Feiran's expression change drastically, Shi Yiqun who was standing next to him apparently also heard what the middle-aged man said. Hearing this, his expression changed drastically and he exclaimed: "Is this news true?"
The middle-aged man was Zhao Feiran's confidant and recognized Shi Yiqun. He immediately replied after hearing this: "We have received calls from Somalia's Banglant Guards and Captain Badison of the oil tanker 'Sky Star', confirming that the 'Sky Star' was killed today."
At five o'clock in the evening, he was hijacked by a group of pirate armed men from the 'Puntland Guard' in the Gulf of Aden."
"How is this possible? The 'Tianxing' is a giant oil tanker, and we are also equipped with armed personnel! How could it be hijacked?" Zhao Feiran obviously still couldn't accept this reality, and said in disbelief after hearing this.
"Feiran, there is no point in discussing this now. The key now is to know how much the Somali pirates are asking for? Have they alerted the government?" Shi Yiqun is the gang leader after all, and he is obviously much calmer than Zhao Feiran, the shipping king, in the face of this unexpected incident.
, interrupted after hearing this.
When it comes to pirate hijackings, ship owners are generally willing to deal privately and do not want to alert the government. Because once the government is alerted, it will inevitably become a national issue, involving many things, and the matter is often no longer up to them. And once the government is alerted,
If the government is notified, the hijacking of the oil tanker will inevitably be known to the insurance company, so the subsequent insurance premiums will definitely be adjusted to sky-high prices, which is what all ship owners do not want to see. Therefore, under normal circumstances, as long as the pirates are not
The lion opened his mouth, and they were all willing to trade privately.
Zhao Feiran is naturally not a simple person. Hearing this, he immediately figured out the reason and calmly looked at the middle-aged man.
"They demand a ransom of 200 million U.S. dollars. It is impossible for the government to receive the news for the time being, but it will definitely be hidden as time goes by," the middle-aged man replied.
In the Gulf of Aden area, the Chinese Navy now also has warships escorting them there. Oil tankers passing there must maintain contact with the navy, so over time, this matter will definitely not be hidden.
"What two hundred million U.S. dollars!" Even though Zhao Feiran's family has a big business, he still felt a little embarrassed when he heard the two hundred million U.S. dollars. When Shi Yiqun heard this number, his face became extremely ugly.
The Zhao family is a branch of the Salt Gang, and the Salt Gang also has a stake in the Zhao family's industry. If the Zhao family suffers, the Salt Gang will naturally suffer as well.
"Two hundred million US dollars may sound like a lion's mouth, but if you really calculate it seriously, it's not too much." Shi Yiqun said with a gloomy face after a while.
Zhao Feiran didn't know this, and his face turned pale when he heard this. Two hundred million U.S. dollars, converted into Hong Kong dollars, is 1.56 billion. Even if the Zhao family has a big business, such a large number cannot withstand a few twists and turns.
. Besides, if you take out this money, it will be wasted. No matter how much money you have, people will still feel distressed.
"Brother Zhao, what's going on? Doesn't your ship fly the Chinese flag or the Hong Kong regional flag?" Zhang Weidong asked, seeing that both of them looked ugly, and couldn't help but frown slightly.
When Zhao Feiran heard this, he almost wanted to scold Zhang Weidong for being such a nerd. Do you think China is really that powerful in the world? Wouldn't Somali pirates dare to rob it just by hanging a flag?
Fortunately, although Zhao Feiran was in an extremely bad mood now, he finally did not forget that Zhang Weidong was Shi Yiqun's martial arts junior. Hearing this, he just said "hmm" with a sullen face and did not answer any more.
At this moment, I am really not in the mood to answer such a childish question.
On the other hand, although Shi Yiqun also felt that Zhang Weidong's question was very nerdy, he still replied for Zhao Feiran: "Weidong, Somali pirates are a group of vicious and vicious people. I guess they have some scruples except for the American ship.
For other countries, it can be said to be unscrupulous. Speaking of which, our ship can be regarded as a super large oil tanker. It is ranked among the best in the world. The cost of construction alone is 600 million US dollars. If we include the cost of the oil tanker,
The total value of crude oil is almost 700 million U.S. dollars, so I think it’s not too outrageous for the pirates to ask for 200 million U.S. dollars. It’s only 200 million U.S. dollars, and this is so damn heartbreaking.”
Speaking later, even though Shi Yiqun was the leader of the Salt Gang, he couldn't help but uttered a vulgar word, with an expression of pain on his face. Two hundred million US dollars, when divided among the Salt Gang, was nearly 40 million.
US dollars, converted into RMB, is two to three hundred million. Moreover, the Zhao family is also a member of the Salt Gang, and the two have a close relationship. How can this make Shi Yiqun, the leader of the gang, not angry or distressed?
Zhang Weidong felt a little strange just now when he saw Shi Yiqun's words and deeds when he heard that the Zhao family's "Tianxing" oil tanker was hijacked. It seemed that he could also participate in deciding the solution to the hijacking of the "Tianxing". Now he heard him say, "Our ship
", and when he talked about 200 million U.S. dollars, he had a heartbroken expression, as if he had also lost a lot of money. He couldn't help but curious: "From what Senior Brother Shi said, could this 'Tianxing' have something to do with you?
?”
"Yes!" Shi Yiqun nodded, but he didn't say any more details. After all, any more details would involve the secrets within the Salt Gang, which are difficult to explain to outsiders, and of course it would be troublesome to explain.
Zhang Weidong became more concerned when he saw that Shi Yiqun was indeed related to the Tianxing. He frowned again and asked: "Which country's flag is this oil tanker flying?"
Naturally, Shi Yiqun didn't know that Zhang Weidong was entangled with the national flag because he was the real uncrowned king of the Somali waters. There was no pirate group in that sea that dared to hijack a ship flying the flag of his motherland, the uncrowned king. This was why Zhang Weidong left before he left.
They have been clearly warned, so unless they become impatient, they will never dare to touch a ship flying the Chinese flag!
But Shi Yiqun didn't know this, so when he saw Zhang Weidong still entangled with the national flag, he felt a little crazy, but he still patiently replied: "Liberia."
"Liberia? It seems to be a small country in West Africa. Why do your ships fly their flag?" Zhang Weidong asked in confusion after hearing this.
This time Shi Yiqun was completely driven crazy by Zhang Weidong's question. Why was he so angry? You are still struggling with this question. Isn't it just that you are not upset enough? But after all, Zhang Weidong's potion cured his chronic illness for many years.
What Wulin people value is repaying a small favor with a spring. Moreover, things have already happened and there is no need to rush, so Shi Yiqun finally patiently explained: "There are particular rules for oil tankers to fly the national flag. When traveling on the sea, they must
Flying the flag of the country where the ship is registered, and flying the flag of the country where the port is located when entering the port. Because the operation of the ship involves many charging issues, such as taxes and fees, such as docking fees at the port, and of course there are also differences between countries.
Diplomatic relations issues, etc., so generally speaking, whether it is domestic or foreign transportation companies, even American companies, they usually choose some neutral countries with relatively low ship charges and taxes to register ships. Liberia is such a country
nation."
When Shi Yiqun was explaining this, Zhao Feiran frowned several times and tried to interrupt impatiently, but was stopped by Shi Yiqun's wink.
Although Shi Yiqun also felt that Zhang Weidong was very nerdy at this time and did not understand the world, but he did not want Zhao Feiran to speak randomly, so as not to hurt Zhang Weidong's self-esteem. He explained this in such detail for this reason.
"It turns out that there is such a thing about flying the national flag. I thought ships of certain national companies would fly the same flag." Zhang Weidong suddenly realized, and at the same time, he secretly blamed himself for taking it for granted and only warned the four pirate kings of Somalia not to do so.
Of course, ships flying the Chinese flag and the flags of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao are not used. As for the case where a Chinese ship flying the flag of another country is hijacked, Zhang Weidong is too lazy to take care of it. In his opinion, his country’s flag should not fly the flag of other countries.
The flag deserves to be hijacked. Now I know that the ship is very particular about flying the flag, but it does not mean that the ship of any country will fly the flag of that country.
"Then do you think we didn't fly the Chinese flag on purpose?" Zhao Feiran couldn't help but glared when he saw Zhang Weidong's enlightened and heartless look.
"Feiran, it's like a mountain apart. It's normal that Wei Dong doesn't understand this." Seeing that Zhao Feiran was a little rude to Zhang Weidong, Shi Yiqun said hurriedly.
When Zhao Feiran saw that Shi Yiqun had said something, he was not going to get angry again, so he changed the topic to the hijacking incident again and said, "What should Brother Shi do now?"
"What else can we do? Of course we can only negotiate the ransom issue with the pirates. Are you still prepared to solve it through government channels?" Shi Yiqun asked rhetorically.
"It seems we can only..." Zhao Feiran couldn't help but say with a wry smile when he heard this.
Also, let’s not say whether it can be solved through government channels. Even if it can be solved, it will take years and months. The government can afford to delay it, but they can’t afford it!
"I know the leader of the "Puntland Guard" pirate gang. Let me make a call first. The tanker matter should be fine." With his relationship with Shi Yiqun, Zhang Weidong will naturally not let him suffer any losses.
Hearing this he smiled.
When Zhao Feiran heard this, his lungs almost exploded. You said that someone who didn't even know what flag a ship should fly just now suddenly told him with a smile that he knew the leaders of several pirate gangs in Somalia. This is not nonsense.
What is it? Do you really think that the hijacking of the oil tanker was just a game of house? That was US$200 million, nearly 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars!
"You..." Zhao Feiran finally couldn't bear it anymore and pointed at Zhang Weidong, wanting to blame him for talking nonsense.
But just when Zhao Feiran opened his mouth, he saw that Zhang Weidong had already turned around with his mobile phone and walked aside to make a call. He was a little stunned for a while, and Shi Yiqun was also looking at Zhang Weidong's back in a daze, with a trace of surprise on his face.
color.
Shi Yiqun knows much more about Zhang Weidong than Zhao Feiran. He knows that even if Zhang Weidong is a nerd, he will not brag so indiscriminately, but if Zhang Weidong is not a braggart, it means that he really knows the leader of the Somali pirate gang.
.
But how is this possible?
Those are the Somali pirates that cause headaches to all countries; those are the Somali pirates that even dare to hijack Ukrainian arms ships; those are the Somali pirates that force all countries in the world to send warships to escort those waters!
