A Big Bang for the Buck
Chapter 26
Angola was the next target on Rashid’s and Vlad’s hit list. It would be a new venture since the country had never been targeted before by Bhutar and its terrorist lackeys. In a sense, the operation would be a trial run to prepare them for the big, upcoming event in Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, a successful attack would send tremors through the international oil markets and spike the price of crude to Bhutar’s advantage once again. They saw it as a win-win proposition, a twofer. The big oil companies and OPEC would be incredulous and mightily pissed off. To Rashid and Vlad, that was merely a bonus and the fun part of their plan. Keep everybody guessing and off balance. And keep the money flowing into Bhutar’s coffers. That was the name of this complicated game.
The conspirators knew Angola produced and exported more petroleum than any other nation in sub-Saharan Africa, surpassing Nigeria in the 2000s. Oil production was almost doubling every two years and the country had many more barrels in reserve both inland and off its Atlantic coastline. Oil made up over 90% of Angola's exports and their attack, if successful, would set back the distribution of crude and oil revenue for many months.
The Americans, in particular, had a keen interest since Angola was the third-largest trading partner of the United States in Sub-Saharan Africa, largely because of its petroleum exports. The U.S. imported seven percent of its oil from Angola, about three times as much as it imported from Kuwait just prior to the Gulf War in 1991. The U.S. government had invested four billion dollars in Angola's petroleum sector. Hopefully, some of its investments in the oil producer’s infrastructure would be destroyed beyond repair. One could only pray for that to happen, inshalla, Rashid thought.
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It had taken the ISIS assault team nearly three weeks to get their people and equipment into place before they launched the op. They staged themselves and things in a mosque in the small town of Simi, just outside the capital of Luanda. The imam was a firebrand who was sympathetic to their cause of promoting radical Islam throughout the world.
The team had rehearsed the assault over and over again until they were satisfied it would work. The target was a supertanker now brimming with crude oil being shipped to Japan. It was docked at the port of Malongo, a short distance by water from their base of operations. It was to be a night attack and they were now ready to execute the op. If successful, the explosion would cause irreparable damage to the ship and surrounding structures. A massive oil spill would result as well, creating an ecological disaster in the coastal waters off Angola. The country’s thriving fishing industry would badly suffer accordingly.
Ahmed, the team’s leader, instructed his men to don their wetsuits and blacken their faces. It was to be a commando strike from the water. They loaded their john boats with scuba gear that included two, light diver propulsion vehicles, better known as underwater scooters. The divers needed to traverse nearly a mile under water to reach the ship and return to their boats. The heavy limpet mines strapped around their waists made it impossible to swim the distance safely on their own.
Ahmed had scouted the port the day before and easily identified the Alhambra as it dwarfed the other tankers berthed there. He knew it carried over three thousand barrels of crude oil, having looked it up in Lloyd’s ship registry. He believed he’d planned well and with Allah’s grace, the mission would succeed. As spiritual backup, he’d asked the imam to bless him and his crew in what they were about to do in the holy name of Islam.
They departed just after one a.m. with two men in each boat. The john boats shiny aluminum skins had been painted a sea green color to blend with the water. No running lights were used and they’d have to navigate in the darkness to avoid detection. But the GPS device would unerringly guide them to their target. Each of the two boats was fitted with an electric outboard motor to reduce the noise of their presence.
Ahmed was first to slide over the side of the boat with his air tanks strapped to his back and a limpet mine to his waist. It was a lot of weight, but with the underwater scooter it would be manageable. The other diver did the same. Before going under, Ahmed wished everyone good luck and ended with an enthusiastic Allah Akbar for good measure.
Ahmed had explained to his men that a limpet mine was a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. It was so named because of its superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of sea snail that clings tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces.
He told them that the mines were usually set off by a time fuse, but not these. These were to be detonated by a remote control device at a time and place of Ahmed’s choosing. They might also have an anti-handling device, making the mine explode if removed from the hull by enemy divers, but that was unnecessary and much too dangerous in this case.
Sometimes the limpet mine was fitted with a small turbine which would detonate the mine after the ship had sailed a certain distance, so that it was likely to sink in navigable channels or deep water out of reach of easy salvage and making it harder to find what caused the sinking. But that’s not what Ahmed had in mind. He wanted a front row seat for tonight’s performance. It was his baby and he needed to witness its birthing.
The plan called for attaching a mine on either side of the ship’s hull, ensuring maximum damage. One might have sufficed, but two were better as far as Ahmed was concerned. Actually, the more the merrier, he thought.
The journey to the tanker only took 12 minutes thanks to the underwater scooters. Ahmed and his companion felt along the massive hull of the 348 meter long vessel and essentially guessed where to attach the mines, although anything under the waterline would do. Even if they misplaced them, it wouldn’t be a problem because the end result would be the same.
The operation had gone smoothly. They hadn’t been discovered and were almost back to their starting point a few miles distant. Before going ashore, they dumped all their gear in the ocean weighing down their wetsuits and other pieces that might otherwise float to the surface.
The team gathered together on the beach and looked in the direction of the supertanker. The imam joined them and they prayed together before Ahmed pushed the red button on the controller that sent a strong signal to the initiators attached to the mines.
Ahmed had watched the television coverage of the 4th of July fireworks display on the mall in Washington, D.C. But it was nothing compared to what they were now seeing in the night sky. However, it would still pale in comparison to the fireworks extravaganza coming next.