Coalers leaving Djibouti with unknown destination according to the Dutch newspaper Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië dated 1 April 1905

An item referred to tidings received from Aden and published in the newspaper Daily Mail reporting that 16 coalers left Djibouti unescorted and with sealed orders. It was expected that their destination was either Batavia or Diego-Suarez (Madagascar) with coal for the Russian Baltic Fleet underway to Vladivostok.(1)

Note

1. At that moment was the Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904-5 September 1905) going on.