TDG — the Fitzgerald bridge at 0130. Re-taken cold in week 6.

Fitzgerald — bridge at 0130

You are the Commanding Officer of a U.S. destroyer transiting a high-traffic sea lane south of Honshu. You have been asleep in your at-sea cabin for 90 minutes. The Officer of the Deck (OOD) has just called you on the bitch-box. His voice is tight.

• 0130 local. Weather: moderate seas, 4–6 ft, visibility ~6 NM with haze. Moon set at 2348.
• Own ship course 230°T at 20 kt, steady, inside a westbound shipping lane.
• Three surface contacts tracked on SPS-73: two crossing to port (CPA > 3000 yd), one crossing to starboard.
• The starboard contact — merchant, CPA 650 yd in 6 minutes, closing. AIS intermittent. No bridge-to-bridge response on VHF 16.
• OOD reports: 'Sir, I'd like to come right to avoid. Combat concurs. But the contact may be altering — picture isn't stable.'
• You are 1 minute from the ladder. CIC watch is manned, bridge is manned. No casualties. No other contacts within 5 NM.