The Last Voyage of the Pong Su · The Age and Sydney Morning Herald

Pong Su extra: Mission planning with the SAS

December 19, 2019·38 min·3 clips

Ben Pronk gave the codeword 'Valhalla' and the Seahawk screamed in over the horizon toward the Pong Su while rigid inflatable boats broke from the lee side of the frigate.

The conversation starts with soldierly bonds. The host sets the scene from Melbourne, with Tim and Ben in Perth, then asks what shared hardship does to people in dangerous work. Ben treats that bond as old, blunt, and real. From there, the episode moves into the less glamorous part of the Pong Su interception: planning it without kidding yourself about the risk. The wardroom is the first good detail. On a Navy vessel, the officers' wardroom is normally protected space for meals and downtime. Here, it gets handed to the SAS team. That tells you two things at once: the tactical planners needed a room, and the ship's crew understood this was not normal business. The force itself was small, but it had a lot wrapped around it. The guest talks through police, explosive disposal specialists, helicopters, tactical boat drivers, Coast Watch aircraft, and intelligence staff all feeding into one plan. And the plan keeps moving. Intelligence changes the tactical picture, including a late warning about possible North Korean special forces on board. That makes the boarding feel less like a seizure and more like something that could go sideways fast. A rehearsal then exposes the weak spots. The boats and helicopter mostly line up, but not cleanly enough to relax anyone. The tension here is procedural: rooms, roles, aircraft, boats, and the nagging sense that even a well-supported plan can still feel thin.

As heard by us

A patient look at how a risky maritime interception was planned.

Pong Su extra keeps its attention on the planning behind a risky maritime interception: soldiers, police, helicopters, boats, intelligence staff, and the small tactical calls that had to come together before boarding.

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Why you'd press play

You get the planning-room view behind a high-stakes Pong Su boarding.

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