claimed to be legal. Surveillance by the UK showed Laser was supplied from Kent, and UK stations campaigned to have Laser and Caroline removed, saying the ships were "stealing their listeners". The early days were overshadowed by problems with the balloon aerial. Several balloons were lost to rough weather in the North Sea. The short-lived transmissions on 729 kHz could be heard in several countries but not in London due to a Radio 4 relay on the adjacent channel of 720 kHz. A change to two masts and a frequency at the bottom of the AM band (558 kHz) were effected for the station's launch in May 1984 as Laser 558. "Eurosiege" On 9 August 1985, the British Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) chartered the Dioptric Surveyor to anchor nearby to monitor Laser and Caroline, at a reported cost of £50,000 a month. It was replaced by the larger Gardline Tracker in November, a sister ship of the Communicator, which had been bought from Gardline Shipping in Great Yarmouth as the Gardline Seeker. DJs at Laser made references to the DTI vessel, poking fun at the ship and staff. They made a parody record "I Spy For The DTI" by the Moronic Surveyors. The term "Eurosiege" was coined by disc jockey Charlie Wolf. On one occasion the MV Communicator moved temporarily away from the MV Ross Revenge only to be followed by the DTI, confirming that Laser rather than Caroline was the target. Business failure and final broadcast The New York agency MMI failed to secure advertising although London based agents took large payments for airtime on the station. The station attracted considerable "paid for play" advertising from UK and Dutch record companies, keen to have product heard by the 8 or 9 million listeners Laser 558 was attracting. Due to the blockade and lack of funds, the MV Communicator went into port, escorted by Gardline Tracker, where it was impounded by the Admiralty Marshall on behalf of creditors, including Gardline Surveys who had sold Laser the ship, and Paul Rusling, its first engineer and coordinator who had sourced the transmitters and paid staff on behalf of the owner. The ship was offered for sale in a blind auction and, despite its cost being almost £1 million two years before, was sold for around £35,000. The monitoring exercise ended shortly afterwards, on 12 December 1985. The day after Laser's