Negotiations slowed on Sunday as Japanese officials claimed that the necessary people were unavailable. With no direct radio link between ships and shore, every message had to travel by small boat, a process that became harder after dark. Captain Brind responded by setting an unambiguous eight o'clock departure deadline for the following morning. Limited communications and deliberate delay had narrowed the time available for a peaceful settlement.
Chapter · 39:04-41:18
Slow negotiations and an eight o'clock deadline
Sunday delays and boat-borne messages frustrated negotiations until Captain Brind declared that the British ships and merchantman would leave at eight the next morning.