Several wide, dark green kelp fronds were wrapped around the large, thick propeller, immobilizing it.
The two divers exchanged a glance, both incredulous.
They had never seen kelp entangle a propeller before. Kelp is such a fragile plant, and the propulsive force of a giant ship's propeller is imnse; the kelp would be torn and shredded upon contact.
Moreover, the Malacca Strait was not a habitat for kelp, and these particular plants looked unusual.
"Let's cut the kelp."
One diver signaled this intention, and then they proceeded, one with a knife and the other with scissors and pliers, to cut the kelp.
Snap!
The knife felt like it was cutting through steel; the kelp was incredibly tough.
No matter how hard the diver tried, he couldn't sever the kelp; he only managed to make a few centiters cut, tiring himself out.
"Damn, what the hell is this?"
The other diver's scissors broke, and he looked incredulous.
This wide-leaf kelp was over a ter wide, and more than a few fronds had wrapped around, coiling multiple tis. It was impossible to untangle manually.
With no other option, the two divers surfaced and reported their findings to the authorities.
"What? Kelp that can't be cut with a knife? Are you trying to fool ?"
Wilt initially didn't believe it until he saw the divers' recorded footage, finally acknowledging the absurdity.
"So, what am I supposed to do about my ship now? This is your strait managent's fault; you should compensate us."
"Your ship must be towed to the dock repair yard where hydraulic shears and cutters can handle the kelp, but the repair and towing costs will be your responsibility. These costs are approximately..."
The Temasek port official flatly denied any fault on their part, planning to later have a research institute examine how those bizarrely tough kelp had grown.
Wilt argued with the Temasek strait managent a bit but eventually had no choice but to agree.
Every extra day the ship was delayed cost a lot of money. If it didn't arrive on ti, the penalty fees would drain the shipping company dry.
However, towing a powerless ocean-going container ship to a repair yard was not an easy task.
After laborious efforts to drag the ship to the repair yard, other ships in the Malacca Strait also began sending distress signals, reporting propeller malfunctions to the Temasek strait managent and requesting assistance.
Initially, such distress incidents occurred several tis a day, but soon the number of reports skyrocketed.
A large number of ships, entering the narrowest part of the Malacca Strait, got their propellers entangled by this tough kelp, rendering them powerless and adrift, ranging from a few thousand tons to giant tankers of twenty or thirty thousand tons displacent.
When the Temasek strait managent realized the seriousness of the situation and urgently banned ships from entering this waterway, over a hundred ships were already trapped.
For a ti, the entire Malacca Strait was clogged with stranded ships. This busy international golden waterway ca to a halt, and a large number of ships waiting to pass were stuck at both ends.
Unsurprisingly, the bizarre events in the Malacca Strait quickly made headlines worldwide.
A military strategist once joked about kelp entangling submarines, and now it had co true — but it was ordinary ships getting entangled instead of submarines.
The Temasek strait managent urgently inspected the problem waterway. When divers went underwater to investigate, they found the area had turned into a kelp forest.
Kelp was rooted and growing on the seabed, with the longest fronds reaching over a hundred ters, longer than any known kelp on Blue Star.
Despite Temasek's efforts, including using explosives, to destroy the kelp, the severed pieces drifted with the current and entangled other ships outside the Strait, causing even more vessels to beco inoperative.
And these kelp fronds reproduced quickly, as if so substance in the seawater was prompting their rapid growth.
Scientists studying this unusual kelp discovered traces of artificial cultivation, suggesting it was not a naturally mutated species, and eagerly began further research, but none of this solved the navigational obstruction in the Malacca Strait.
Knowing the high likelihood that these kelp were artificially cultivated, Temasek imdiately suspected the Jieke Group.
As the group had both motivation and capability, Jieke Group was a pri suspect.
If the Malacca Strait was blocked, Jieke Group would benefit the most. With Jieke Group's gene technology, creating such mutated kelp wasn't difficult.
"The real culprit behind the Malacca Strait kelp crisis has been identified. We have reason to believe that the Jieke Group, to monopolize international shipping interests, maliciously released these mutated kelp into the Malacca Strait, causing the vital golden waterway to be unusable. This is an unprecedented cri!"
The Temasek National Newspaper published an article accusing Jieke Group, even though they had no concrete evidence to prove it.
Other Europe and Arica dia quickly followed suit, all pointing fingers at Jieke Group.
Not just the dia, but the general public also saw Jieke Group as the biggest suspect.
Anyone with common sense could easily see who would benefit the most from blocking the Malacca Strait.
Given Jieke Group's history — sending a Genetic Warrior to ss with the Beautiful Country at the Los Angeles Olympics and using a satellite to crash into another Beautiful Country satellite — they had a talent and penchant for this kind of mischief.
"Baseless accusations! We have absolutely no connection with the mutated kelp. If Temasek continues with malicious defamation, we won't hesitate to send troops to defend our reputation!"
Of course, Jieke Group wouldn't admit to such "slander." Their official statent denied any involvent, daring anyone to prove otherwise without evidence.
They even threatened Temasek, warning them to stop talking nonsense, or face consequences.
Several Jieke Group warships began patrolling the waters outside the Malacca Sea, with Magic Bird Fighters flying over Temasek's airspace in a show of force.
Faced with Jieke Group's pressure, Temasek dared not continue their provocative articles, swallowing their frustration and finding their own solutions for the kelp issue.
Ultimately, in this world, might makes right. Even if Temasek had evidence, there was nothing they could do against Jieke Group.
If your fists are strong enough, you can label a bag of laundry powder as a weapon of mass destruction and destroy a country with it.
Although global dynamics have changed significantly, the law of the jungle remains unchanged: weak nations have no diplomatic power.
anwhile, as the Malacca Strait was blocked by the mutated kelp and rendered non-navigable, ships intending to pass through were dumbfounded.
Clearly, this issue was not sothing that could be resolved quickly. With Temasek lacking a good solution, the ships couldn't afford to wait.
The first Beautiful Country cargo ship entangled by the kelp took over a week to be repaired at the shipyard, and combined with the initial delays, more than half a month had already passed, an unbearable delay for any ship.
The massive financial losses incurred each day the ships were stalled in the Malacca Strait were staggering.
With the Malacca Strait impassable, ships were left with no choice but to reroute.
In such a case, the Kra Isthmus Canal beca the preferred alternative, being the closest and fastest canal route.
Suddenly, applications for passage through the Kra Isthmus Canal flooded in, with Europe and Arica shipping companies, which previously refused to use the Kra Isthmus Canal, reluctantly giving in to reality.
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