Given the war situation and Allied domination of the Atlantic and Indian oceans, the proposed operation was extremely audacious and called for careful planning. One blockade runner was converted to resemble an iron ore carrier from neutral Sweden. Named the Brand III, it was crewed by Brandenburgers (Special Forces) with knowledge of Swedish and some Indians with experience as seamen. The majority of the Indians were, however, concealed in specially constructed space at the bottom of the hold which was covered over with iron ore so that inspection from above would give the impression of a normal hold full of ore. The Brand III then proceeded from Germany to Malmö in Sweden where it refuelled in the knowledge that British agents there would report its departure to London. The “neutral” vessel was allowed to make passage through the English Channel but was stopped in Gibraltar where its cargo manifest was examined but its cover story held good. A German agent in Cape Town, South Africa had sent the order for the iron ore which was ostensibly for a real iron foundry in South Africa to Sweden so that verification checks by the British authorities showed everything to be in order. The Brand III carried on through the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean and survived another inspection, this time by US warships in the Bay of Bengal. Finally, just west of the Sunda Strait, the Brand III rendezvoused with a Japanese cruiser which escorted it to Singapore.