I read an awesome Wired magazine article Monday called, “High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The Race to Save the Cougar Ace.” It’s about a nautical salvage firm trying to save a sinking Japanese freighter–if they can save it, they get a cut of the cargo value from the ship’s insurer. If they fail, they don’t get anything.

Who knew things like that existed outside of Bruce Willis movies? The guy in charge, Rich Habib (and if that’s not a fake name, I don’t know what is) “holds an unlimited master’s license, which means he’s one of the select few who are qualified to pilot ships of any size, anywhere in the world.” How cool is that?

It’s a long article but it reads like adventure fiction, complete with tragedy and a foul-mouthed Panamanian sidekick. Go check it out.