The Supertanker of Azur Lane

Prologue

It is 10:15 AM. The MV Dniester has just left Cyprus and is sailing towards the Mediterranean sea. This is the fourth time it has to follow the same route from Europe to Africa. Lately, the demand for oil and natural gas has increased at rather high number in Africa and Oceania. It's not just Europe that has been suffering from the war in Ukraine, other nations such as Liberia and and New Zealand have been suffering from blackouts and power outtages due to the shortage of oil and natural gas, and while most governments have slowly began adapting to more eco friendly energies, there are still some world leaders who are still thick headed and egotistical and don't care about the environment or the people. To them, oil is everything for their nations. It's what makes them rich after all. At least they're willing to abide by the international environmental laws and reduce the gas emissions. Even supertankers like the MV Dniester are running on more sustainable and eco friendly fossil fuels. It doesn't make things any easier, but at least they can reduce the pollution of the seas that way.

-'Good morning captain, I trust you had a pleasant night?', says the navigator in a joyful voice tone.

-'Good morning crew. It wasn't that pleasant', replies the captain in rather low voice tone. 'I had trouble sleeping last night'. He continues as he walks towards his seat.

-'How so?', asks the navigator again.

-'I don't know, I guess I have insomnia or something'.

-'I can't blame you sir. 150 tones of liquified natural gas guarded by only three people, it's a great responsibility'.

The captain says nothing. He knows that what the navigator says is true. Indeed, the MV Dniester is not just a regular supertanker carrying fuel, natural gas, etc. It's something more than that, it's the future of merchant vessels. That's because, despite its exterior design, the inside is a whole new level of techonology. Unlike other merchant vessels that require dozens of crew to man them, this one requires only three men as its crew. The bridge is nothing like anyone has ever seen before. While there are three seats for the crew, the rest of the bridge is covered by three giant computer touchscreens which allows the to program the ship any way they wish. From activating the autopilot to programming its estimated course with the ability to alter it if necessary. 

Nowadays, everything is automated, so it's no surprise that even ships have to go through various upgrades. The only problem is that it's expensive and time consuming, and whie there are those who are willing to provide the funds, they're not enough to complete the upgrades at the right time when they are required. For that reason, most companies are forced to loan other ships which reduces the effectiveness and increases the cost even more. Not only that, the companies have to share the money gained from the oil they sell, which sometimes causes the price to increase, no matter how impractical it seems.

Just then, the ship's scanner makes a bleeping sound and a three side view of the ship appears on the touchscreen of the navigator. A red light appears to be flashing at the engine room. There must be some malfunction at either the engines or the electrical batteries that power them. The details are not very clear, but it would seem that one of the batteries has suffered a lithium leak. If that's the case, then the engine room has to be sealed up completely and the ship needs to be immobilized unitl the mess can be cleared conpletely. To continue sailing under such risky circumstances would mean disaster.

-'Batteries two and three appear to be leaking lithium sir', says the navigator in calm voice tone. He's been trained to deal with such scenarios, so there's no reason for him to panic.

-'Right, set engines to manual', replies the captain. 'Seal the room and set the engines to 'Stop'. The sooner we deal with this problem, the sooner we'll make up for the lost time'.