The Invisible Ocean Trader and Swan

Freo Today. 31 March 2023. Jean Hudson couldn’t believe her eyes as she strolled along Leighton Beach, North Fremantle yesterday afternoon and spotted this black swan cruising by. So she ferreted out her camera and snapped it quickly before it flew off. Then, back in the dark room, as she hung the negative up to dry, she spotted … yes, the Ocean Trader, the ‘Stealthiest Warship’ in the US Navy lurking offshore, to the right in the pic. You can see her/him/it but you can’t track them as they don’t appear on tracking apps like Marine Traffic – unless of course you have your own spy satellite in the sky! The other vessel looks a lot like the Absolute, the local oil tanker that refuels visiting ships, but maybe not. However,according to the Marine Traffic app, Absolute was, unusually, in that position for some time yesterday afternoon, all on her lonesome. We imagine however she wasn’t entirely alone!