Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 296 - 211: So what if we sink it!

Chapter 296: Chapter 211: So what if we sink it!

The waters of Yingchuan Port are wide, but due to many shallows and hidden reefs, the waterway is quite narrow.

During the low water season, the dedicated channel for ships over 5000 gross tons at its narrowest is only 150 meters, with a depth of only 9 meters at low tide.

has a shallow draft, but still needs to be careful when navigating.

Captain Wang piloted 001 upstream, navigating around patches of shallows and hidden reefs, finally reaching the area where the anchoring incident occurred.

Han Yu jumped onto a cargo ship whose anchor and chain had become entangled, went to the stern to assess the situation, and after consulting with the crew of the arriving crane ship, immediately had several cargo ships’ crews "make do with mistakes" by tying ropes to each other first to loosen the tangled anchors and chains for subsequent rescue.

After all the ships were tied with ropes, they asked Zhu Baogen to secure the towline, and requested Captain Wang to drive, using 001 to tow the six entangled cargo ships, keeping them stationary in the tidewater.

The Traffic Control Center released a ship pre-warning message, reminding passing ships to avoid the area.

Supervision Boat 37 and Port Patrol Team One’s Supervision Boat, which hurried to the scene, turned on their police lights, reminding ships traveling upstream and downstream of the anchor entanglement accident to avoid the area.

Han Yu and Han Xiangning became the overall commanders of the rescue, organizing the crew of the six cargo ships to slowly pull up the anchor chains and inspect the anchor entanglement, assessing each ship’s underwater anchor and chain entanglement.

Then, using ropes, crowbars, and other tools, they performed "surgical" operations directing the ship crews to operate the anchor machines, pull ropes, and pry with crowbars to slowly separate the entangled anchors and chains between the ships.

They started busy from nine in the morning, skipping lunch, and continued until four in the afternoon, finally managing to untangle the involved anchors and chains.

The accident was caused by two cement ships of over a hundred tons each dragging anchor, and despite warnings given to the shipowners yesterday about improper anchoring positions, they paid no heed, violating maritime traffic regulations and were penalized.

However, this had nothing to do with Han Yu; he was about to ask Captain Wang to return when his attention was drawn by a cargo ship of five or six thousand tons that had just passed through the main channel.

Han Xiangning boarded Supervision Boat 37, saw him foolishly standing by the bulwark, and instinctively picked up the walkie-talkie: "San’er, what are you looking at?"

"That Panamanian-registered cargo ship has deviated from the waterway, it will easily run aground if it doesn’t adjust its course!"

"I’ll ask what the matter is."

Noticing something amiss as well, Han Xiangning hurriedly put down the walkie-talkie and dashed into the cabin of Supervision Boat 37.

similarly had a very high-frequency radio station, Han Yu opened the door and squeezed into the cockpit, grabbed the speaking tube, turned on the radio, and urgently said: "Captain Wang, chase that cargo ship, overtake it on the right side of its bow."

"What happened?"

"It’s straying from its course; it will run aground if it doesn’t adjust."

"Immediately!"

Captain Wang reacted, swiftly powered full throttle and entered the main waterway.

Han Yu picked up the speaker and shouted in English: "Pride Wine, please pay attention, Pride Wine, please pay attention, I am from China Binjiang Water Police, I am from China Binjiang Water Police, please reply if you receive this message, please reply if you receive this message!"

After waiting a few tens of seconds, there was no response.

Han Yu switched channels and continued calling, but still no response from the other party.

Only hearing his elder sister also shouting in the radio, not passing by speaking Mandarin.

"San’er, something is not right, foreign ships entering the Yangtze River cannot be without a pilot, and the pilot on board can’t possibly not hear our calls!"

"Hurry and report to the Traffic Control Center, ask what’s going on."

"Alright."

In the meantime, 001 had already, under Captain Wang’s control, chased up to fifty or sixty meters on the right rear side of the foreign cargo ship, where Han Yu pushed open the cabin door, raised his binoculars to observe.

Not realizing before the observation, after observing for a while, he noticed more issues.

"Ningning, there’s a problem with this cargo ship, it has not hung signal flags as regulated, nor displayed navigation lights nor patterns, there should not be a pilot aboard!"

"Received, received, the Traffic Control Center tells us to keep calling."

"They’re not responding, what’s the use of just calling."

"Traffic Control Center is now contacting upstream and downstream Brother Port Supervision Bureaus, we need to first understand the situation."

After so many years, the water traffic management on the river is still somewhat chaotic.

For example, piloting should be segmentally conducted like railway drivers on land, as even the most experienced pilots can’t possibly be familiar with the entire Yangtze River’s waterways.

However, for various reasons, foreign ships navigating towards ports like Jiangyin are piloted by the Zhenjiang Port Supervision Bureau, and those heading to Jiangcheng by Jiangcheng Port Supervision Bureau, and likewise further upstream, which is neither safe nor conducive to management.

Although Binjiang Port Supervision Bureau has invested in building four radar stations that can monitor the river surface.

Yet, on the radar, ships are densely packed bright spots, with no vessel identity recognition system, only knowing they are ships, not knowing their nationality, name, or number...

The various signs indicate that there surely is no pilot on the cargo ship ahead.

This means it has illegally entered the Yangtze River, violating China’s sovereignty!

This is no longer just a matter for Port Supervision; weighing the situation, Han Yu put down the walkie-talkie, picked up the speaker again, and tuned the radio to the traffic management frequency:

"Binjiang Traffic Control Center, this is Binjiang Water Police 001, I’ve detected that the Panamanian-registered cargo ship Pride Wine is acting suspiciously and likely has illegally entered the Yangtze River. We are initiating an interception, please contact Customs and Border Control for assistance immediately!"

"Binjiang Water Police 001, this is Binjiang Port Supervision Traffic Control Center, we are contacting Baoshan Traffic Control Center. Can you give us five minutes to confirm the situation first?"

"We have called multiple times, but there was no response, and it is currently speeding upriver. Judging from its course, the crew is not familiar with the Yangtze River Channel. If we don’t intercept decisively, it may easily lead to a grounding accident."

Han Yu looked out at the target cargo ship and then emphasized, "More importantly, if we allow it to continue intruding, it would be a further infringement on China’s sovereignty!"

There was a moment of silence in the radio, followed by a male traffic controller’s voice: "Traffic Control Center received, Traffic Control Center received, please pay attention to safety during interception."

When serving as an Apprentice Chief Officer on a cargo ship, while navigating in foreign territorial waters, it was necessary to hoist signal flags according to international conventions and strictly obey the instructions given.

Once, after loading goods at a foreign dock and preparing to set sail, it was discovered that a sailor was smoking on deck, which they claimed threatened the safety of the port and its personnel.

Law enforcement personnel came aboard one after another to inspect, and the ship was detained for three days. Including fines, berthing fees, and other losses, the Marine Bureau lost tens of thousands of US Dollars!

Now a foreign ship fails to hoist signal flags as per international conventions, which shows disrespect towards China’s sovereignty. Also, not responding as required after multiple calls, this is a violation of China’s water traffic laws.

If this is an unauthorized illegal entry, the problem is even more serious.

Han Yu could not allow it to continue upriver. He immediately turned on the police lights, sounded the siren, turned on the loudspeaker, and picked up the transceiver:

"Pride Wine, please be advised, I am the China Water Police. I command you to turn on the radio and respond to my inquiries immediately."

An old foreign cargo ship still sailed against the wind, seemingly not hearing the shout.

But it was clearly visible that a foreign sailor came out of the cockpit looking around, appearing very panicked.

"Pride Wine, please be advised, I am the China Water Police. I command you to respond immediately!"

"Pride Wine, I am the Chinese Water Police. This is your last warning, respond now or we will take action!"

"Pride Wine, I am the Chinese Water Police. I command you to immediately reduce your speed to three knots, follow me, and leave the main waterway heading to the waters 1.5 kilometers to the forward left for anchorage and inspection!"

The foreign cargo ship’s crew saw and definitely heard, but still neither responded nor slowed down.

Han Yu was furious, leaned forward and shouted: "Uncle Zhu, prepare the water cannon!"

This was Zhu Baogen’s first time encountering such a situation, and in disbelief that a ship could ignore commands, he reacted: "Okay, right away."

"Captain Wang, find the right angle. I want to give them a piece of my mind!"

"How about we wash their cockpit?"

"Let’s do that, hurry up."

"Roger!"

Captain Wang finally saw shades of Xu Sanye in Han Yu and couldn’t help but show a knowing smile.

Han Yu had no idea what Captain Wang was thinking, put down the loudspeaker handset, took the bridge’s door in one breath, ran to the first deck, stood on the port side, and once again lifted the walkie-talkie:

"Supervision 37 please be advised, Supervision 37 please be advised, I will take action against Pride Wine. Please navigate to its forward left in cooperation with intercepting!"

"Supervision 37 received, Supervision 37 received!"

"Salted Fish, should we change into firefighting suits?"

"I am representing the Chinese Government. I must wear my uniform; I won’t change. You go ahead and change."

"Alright, stand to the side a bit, don’t get wet."

"No worries."

No need to install a water cannon at the firefighting station, just connect the hose and turn on the firefighting pump.

Zhu Baogen quickly finished preparing. Han Yu lifted the binoculars, observing the clearly visible foreign sailor, and said coldly, "Aim at the third-floor cockpit, fire!"

Zhu Baogen looked up and reminded, "It will shatter the cockpit glass."

"Don’t just talk about shattering, even if it sinks, so what."

"Yes!"

Zhu Baogen hesitated no more, immediately opened the water valve, and a silver water column blasted out, quickly reaching the foreign cargo ship.

But the distance was a bit too far, the power was not strong enough.

Han Yu ran up to the second level again, leaning on the railing and shouted, "Captain Wang, get closer."

"No problem."

Captain Wang gently adjusted the steering wheel, and 001 slowly approached the foreign cargo ship.

Zhu Baogen, operating like controlling an anti-aircraft gun, kept adjusting the angle. The high-pressure water cannon finally helped wash the cockpit glass of the foreign ship.

The cargo ship also had firefighting equipment. Its high-pressure water cannons were very powerful and had the advantage of the high ground.

Han Yu was contemplating what to do if the other party resisted with high-pressure water cannons when suddenly a response in English came over the radio: "Chinese Water Police, Chinese Water Police, this is Pride Wine, I will immediately reduce to three knots, I will immediately reduce to three knots..."