The crew on the bridge held their breath. Elias looked at the chart. They were sailing on a razor's edge.

The MV Orient Star , a Panamax bulk carrier riding low in the water with a belly full of Australian grain, sliced through the calm waters of the Malacca Strait. The horizon was a flat, oppressive line of gray, but Captain Elias knew what lay beyond the veil. They were approaching the One Fathom Bank, the gateway to one of the most congested, treacherous, and vital maritime highways in the world.

They shot across the outbound lane like a sprinter crossing a highway, slipping into the gap with yards to spare on either side. The lights of the Singapore skyline now towered over them, the cranes of the container terminals looking like giant mechanical praying mantises.