Welcome to Assignments on the BBC World Service.

We have two active tropical systems in the Western Pacific today.

Actually, Chunholm, off here towards the north. It's early

early October 2020. A tropical storm is churning the waters of the South China Sea.

It's hitting sooner and harder than expected.

The crew manning the ships on the busy stretch of water begin to panic.

They're sending out a stress. the ships on the busy stretch of water begin to panic.

They're sending out distress signals picked up by the closest Coast Guard Vietnam.

Water plunges over the side of one of the struggling ships.

The sea rushes with unstoppable force into the engine room and begins to pull it beneath the waves.

Five of the ship's crew end up in the water,

only full make it to shore.

Two fishing boats are sent to help.

They also sink. It's chaos.

Another call comes in. Another cargo ship's been spotted wrecked on the rocks just down the coast. Its massive black and red hull rises up at an odd angle in the middle. It's

cracked and broken. The cranes on board are rocking in time with the waves.

Emergency rescue teams are calling out on a loudspeaker

through the sheeting rain, desperately trying to make contact with its crew.

There's no response. It's empty. A ghost ship. There's a name painted on the side you can just make out the Jakarta.

Six thousand miles away in the UK, news of the Jakarta's fate reaches its owner.

It turns out the ship was being towed to a beach in India when it broke free in a storm.

That's why no one was on board. But as part of the mystery is solved,

...