In the small hours of 10 July, Djakarta had been rocked by explosions in two of its cargo holds and there was fire on board. After fighting a seven-hour losing battle against the flames, the crew had abandoned ship.

Now a Smit Tak salvage team was waiting for Hoekstra at Rotterdam airport, along with a chartered cargo plane, a massive Ilyushin. In Crete, a chartered tug was standing by to rendezvous with Hoekstra and his team. All this cost Smit Tak hundreds of thousands of dollars, which would have to be written off if the company failed to achieve a successful salvage of the Djakarta, not to mention any profit.

The Ilyushin arrived at Heraklion airport in Crete in the small hours of 12 July. Hoekstra set off in the tug later that day. In overall command of the operation, his mission was to find the drifting ship, douse the fires and bring the Djarkarta to a safe harbour where its owners could resume control.

Djarkarta was finally located, having run aground on the Egyptian coast near a popular beach resort and a navy base. Smit Tak obtained a permit to work in the area for 21 days. They may have found the container ship but their problems were only just beginning.

The Channel 4 documentary Deadly Cargo charted the dramatic rescue of the Djakarta. The television crew was given exclusive access throughout and risked their lives to film on board the burning ship.