The ship's office said... - Tradução em português

"They discovered that one ship, the Tsarina Catherine, sailed that morning from London for the Black Sea. The ship's office said that, at the last minute, a man put a box on the ship. He paid a lot of money."

Se o texto fosse "The ship's officer said..." ou "In the ship's office said...", eu entenderia, mas do que jeito que está no livro não.