Jolly Froyalaner

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MV Jolly Froyalaner

Just another hull in the intrigue-ridden Captive Sea
Type Coastal Merchant Vessel
Place of origin Jingdao Jingdao
Used by Los Liberados Los Liberados
Owner Unknown
Operator Octavian Import-Export Corporation (suspected)
Crew Unknown - reports state between 10-15
Length 38m
Beam 6.5m
Draught 2m
Depth 6.2m
Propulsion 3x All-Garden Pyroenergetics Complex turbo biodiesels
Speed Unknown - believed in excess of 25 knots
Armament Unknown

The MV Jolly Froyalaner is a small merchant vessel of some 100 displaced tons operating in the Captive Sea; a rake-bowed coaster most often seen in the Liberadosan port of Corcovado. The owner, operator or flag state of the vessel - which has been subject to numerous modifications - have not been definitively identified, despite much rumour and speculation.

The original hull and superstructure of the Jolly Froyalaner resembles a Jingdaoese fishing vessel of the type prevalent in Carama Bay, presumably spending its early life in that capacity. The manner in which it passed out of Jingdaoese usage is unclear; whether wrecked, sold, deposited in one of the many ship-breaking yards of the Raynor Sea or some combination thereof, its first confirmed sighting was as a beached hulk on the foreshore near Puerto Arcadio in 1669, attended upon by a gang of Liberadosan labourers under the apparent guidance of skilled fabricators with heavy Nova English accents. Over the course of the year the hull was repaired and repainted, followed by a mysterious removal of the uppermost superstructure including the wheelhouse. In its place was added a telescopic mast topped with a multi-lensed, free-training optical device alongside a forest of radio antennae. During this period the vessel was refloated and moved to a dedicated berth in Puerto Arcadio proper where it remained for several weeks before disappearing, eventually re-emerging in the port of Corcovado which it has frequented ever since.

Initially thought to be registered in Stormark on account of its name and its flying of the Storish flag, the Jolly Froyalaner has since been spotted using the flags of other states such as Alrig, Phinbella and even Çeridgul. The vessel's movements in and out of port are rarely seen by the casual observer as they usually occur in middle of the night during times of inclement or even violent weather - mariners in Corcovado speak variously with admiration or disdain for the Jolly Froyalaner's crew and their habit of putting to sea in such conditions, as a mark of either masterful seamanship or foolish recklessness.

Of the Jolly Froyalaner's crew themselves, little is known except that they come from a multitude of nations; accents as varied as Nova English, Constancian, Raspurid and Batavian have been heard from them alongside more local Liberadosan and occasionally, the ebullient jollity of the Kalgachi from faraway Benacia. Whilst they have been known to frequent the dockside bars of Corcovado, these men reveal nothing about their work and tend not to associate with others. The few occasions when they have been pressed on their business have invariably resulted in a display of military grade hand-to-hand combat skill which has caused most dockside hombres in Corcovado to leave them alone. The prevailing rumour among these locals is that the Jolly Froyalaner's crew are privateers or pirates with ex-military backgrounds who enjoy some degree of protection from the Milicia de Hierro in return for conducting deniable, high-risk smuggling trips for the Octavian Import-Export Corporation and/or Iron Company. The profusion of optical and electronic fittings on the vessel, along with an exhaust plume diffuser of the type used to reduce infrared signature and a better-than-average hull condition overall, have provoked suggestions from more educated quarters that one or more 'state actors' have an interest in its operation.

Ships sailing in close proximity to the Jolly Froyalaner have occasionally experienced anomalous behaviour from their radio and radar equipment. The Jolly Froyalaner rarely uses an AIS transponder and when it does, the resulting telemetry often diverges considerably from the vessel's actual status. Reports of "teleporting supertankers" and other shape-shifting contacts on regional VTS systems are roughly correlated with periods when the Jolly Froyalaner is known to be at sea. It has even been suggested that multiple, identical Jolly Froyalaners are operating in the region; while this would explain the vessel's regular re-appearance in port despite the claims of regional powers to have sunk it, the phenomenon may be little more than the self-spoofing of a single vessel to surrounding sensor systems.