Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 02 - Peeking Duck by Daniel Ganninger Read Free Book Online Page B

company did not want public could be exposed.  It was a natural reaction, even for a company that had nothing to hide.
    Thomas Saller, the logistics officer of Regentex, fielded the call from Elway.  Saller was responsible for the overall operations of the Regentex fleet of ships.  He was in charge of scheduling the necessary shipping points, crew assignments and replacements, connecting the cargo with rail and road, and knowing the overall status of the ships.  He had already informed his staff of this pending emergency.  Out of anyone in the company, he would have the most to answer for. 
    Following the protocol for this type of emergency, Saller contacted McDonnell Marine Cargo Insurance Brokerage, located in San Diego.
    McDonnell was the insurance broker for Regentex and covered their shipping fleet and the cargo it carried.  It was imperative to inform them of the loss of the Trusian .
    The ship itself was insured at a value of 39.9 million dollars , and the cargo was insured up to 63.3 million dollars.  These were sums that Regentex would not be able to recover from the loss on their own, especially since they owed over 21 million on the Trusian to their creditors.  The cargo was another story.  The pending lawsuits that could result from the loss of the containers on board would be crippling.  McDonnell was now Regentex’s new best friend, and the only thing keeping them in business.
    Of course this particular news wasn ‘t particularly easy for the McDonnell Insurance firm to handle, but it was why they were in business.  The McDonnell representatives immediately went to work and contacted their lawyers and claims adjustors who arranged travel to the Port of Los Angeles.
    McDonnell Insurance had a daunting task ahead of them.  They had to determine what cargo was on board the Trusian , and because of the sheer volume, they secretly hoped the vessel would come steaming into port when they arrived.  The reps from the company would soon realize that the cargo aboard the Trusian was more than they bargained for.
    Thomas Saller arranged a flight for his team from San Francisco to LAX to meet with the representatives of the McDonnell Company and to perform damage control.  This was going to be messy.
    Regentex had lost cargo before, as any shipping agent invariably had, but to have a complete loss of cargo along with the disappearance of a large container ship was something no one could have imagined.  The company had contended with damaged ships and crew problems, but no one at the company ever dared talk about something of this magnitude.  The Feds would be asking questions, McDonnell insurance would be asking questions, and the executives along with the shareholders of Regentex would be asking their own questions.
    The biggest problem each of these groups faced was that they had no idea where the vessel was and what may have happened to it.  Saller was the first to ponder all the questions.  Did it sink?  The weather reports were favorable in the last area of contact, no adverse weather conditions.  Did the crew experience catastrophic engine and navigational failure?  Not likely since the vessel had only reported problems with the AISLive, the transponder system that tracked the ship’s position.  They had never reported engine trouble and had indicated they were traveling at a set rate of speed on course.  Was the ship hijacked?  Not likely in the waters of this part of the Pacific.  The emergency beacon had never been tripped and the captain of the vessel had not given the codes to indicate a hijacking. 
    Saller couldn ‘t think of any other rational explanation for the disappearance of the Trusian .  It just didn’t make sense.  Nothing added up.  “Maybe the Coast Guard will produce some answers during their search,” he thought to himself while fighting through the commuter traffic on his way to San Francisco International Airport.  He felt his heart rate quicken.  “What if I