| Navy
Capture Ship of Undead
Nr. Darwin, in the Timor Sea (ZWN)--- (AP)
Posted:
Aug. 10st,
2008
ZWN
field reporter - Daniel Firstenberg
A
Royal Australian Navy (RAN) spokesperson revealed at a press conference
this weekend that a large cargo freighter, with Turkish identifiers
was intercepted in Australian waters early Saturday morning.The Armidale
class patrol boat, HMAS Acaria, came across the stricken vessel approximately
200kms north west of Darwin, in the Timor Sea. The vessel was reportedly
"meandering with no definable course or intention". After
failing to communicate with the ship, a boarding party was dispatched,
Where upon they found the lower decks to be "teaming with undead".
Although the press conference was brief and few details released, Lieutenant
John Ryan, who led the Clearance Diving Team (CDT), which is the section
of the RAN that boards illegal vessels, spoke exclusively to ZWN afterward
on what happened on the Turkish Vessel.
Lt
Ryan - "After initial communication was unsuccessful,
we decided that the best from of action (within RAN guidelines) was
to board the vessel with our CDT. A six man team including myself was
dispatched to find out why the vessel was unresponsive to our requests.
On arrival on the freighter, we became immediately aware of a very strong
smell of decay emanating from the lower decks. However, we first swept
the upper deck and the bridge in order to secure them. , We found no
signs of life. The next step was to proceed to the lower decks.
We stayed in one group sweeping from the stern of the ship towards the
hull. The lower decks were broken into four sections, each holding cargo
containers. The first three were not inhabited but the fourth hold,
closest the the hull of the ship was occupied.
As soon as we breached the cargo hold door, our point man was grabbed
by something, luckily he managed to free himself without any harm. As
we fell back into a defensive position, several reanimates exited through
the open door. I gave orders for "Weapons Free", which means
shoot on site. After we dispatched of the first five, the next lot of
them bottled themselves at the cargo door and were easily neutralized."
According to a Naval release, fifteen bodies were recovered from the
cargo hold by Navy personnel and transported back to the Darwin Hazmat
Facility for further examination. It is not known how the sailors became
infected, how they became locked in a cargo hold or what happened to
the rest of the crew. but the ships log and ledgers are currently being
examined to determine the events leading up to the capture of the ship.
The ship is currently moored at the Coonawara Naval Base, also in Darwin
and is being inspected by Hazmat officials with Navy co-operation.
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