18
August 2002
Into
the 'Roaring Forties'
Since yesterday morning we've been
steaming south as fast as possible. We are trying to
intercept the BNFL plutonium shipment on route to the
UK. However, it appears that they have got wind of our
plan and are running scared. Our sources tell us that
the Pacific Teal and the Pacific Pintail have altered
course and are heading south into an area known as the
'Roaring Forties' so named because of the fierce weather
often experienced at that latitude.
This seems crazy. They are carrying
a dangerous nuclear cargo and have no reason to run
from us other than their desire to hide from public
scrutiny. As I see it, this illustrates the stupidity
of the whole operation. Dangerous nuclear fuel and with
falsified safety data, shipped clear across the globe
through dangerous seas, and then shipped all the way
back again endangering lives, ecosystems and whole economies.
Our intention is to bear witness to
their passage through the Atlantic ocean in the same
way that the Nuclear
Free Flotilla did in the Tasman sea last month.
By doing so we will be saying to them: We see what you
are doing and we object.
So we continue the chase. The engineers
are working hard to get as much speed out of the Esperanza
as possible and will do so through the night.
You can hear the sound of the two huge
engines throughout the entire ship 24 hours a day. The
motion of the ship though the sea rocks you to and fro
in your bunk at night. Sometimes when we hit a large
swell head-on there is a huge thud and the whole ship
shudders with the impact. It's not hard to imagine that
we are inside a living thing, a huge taniwha prowling
restlessly beyond the South African coast as the world
leaders prepare to decide the fate of the earth and
us. But then again...maybe it's those seasickness tablets
I've taken.
- Nick
Web editor
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