Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 297 - 212: Can’t Withstand the Rinse

Chapter 297: Chapter 212: Can’t Withstand the Rinse

Foreign crew members are also considered foreign guests.

No foreign affair is a small matter, and the treatment of foreign vessels and foreigners has always been very cautious.

Deputy Director Chen of the Water Rescue Center couldn’t believe that Han Yu would actually take a hard line with foreign vessels, the entire person was stunned. The law enforcement officers of Port Patrol Team One and Port Patrol Second Team were also taken aback.

Seeing that the foreign vessel honestly followed vessel 001 towards the nearest anchoring ground, they hurriedly instructed the driver to quickly move the Supervision Boat over there.

Han Yu clearly saw the Pride Wine’s pilothouse glass shattered by the high-pressure water cannon and thought to himself that it was no wonder they suddenly became so compliant.

Zhu Baogen saw it even clearer, and with a pained face, asked, "Salted Fish, what do we do now?"

"What do you mean what do we do?"

"The glass is shattered, we don’t know if the people inside are hurt."

"Don’t worry, I’ll hold up the sky if it falls."

Han Yu bent over to look at Zhu Baogen, then once again raised the radio handset: "Pride Wine, Pride Wine, drop anchor immediately!"

"Understood."

"Is there anyone injured on board?"

"Mr. Police Officer, my third officer is injured and needs to be taken to the hospital."

"Where is the wound? Is it serious?"

"He was stabbed by broken glass; his hands and neck are bleeding."

"Did it hit an artery?"

"Shouldn’t have."

Not hitting an artery means the injury isn’t serious...

After weighing the options, Han Yu said coldly: "There should be a first-aid kit on board; there should be medicines, and you all should have undergone first-aid training."

"Yes, sir."

"Since you have all that, then first treat his wounds and bandage him to stop the bleeding."

"But this isn’t the open sea, sir. Could you send my man to the hospital for more professional treatment?"

"Sorry, I don’t have the authority to let you ashore."

"Mr. Police Officer, you can’t do this, my man is injured, my ship is damaged, I need rescue, I need fair and humane treatment!"

"Are you the Captain?"

"Yes, sir."

"What’s your name?"

"Pilos Panagulis."

"Nationality?"

"I am from Greece, Mr. Police Officer. I have followed your orders to the best of my ability, my man is injured, please send my man to the hospital for the love of God!"

Now you’re worried about the safety of your crew, what were you doing earlier?

Han Yu criticized in his heart, and kept his gaze on the cargo ship that was dropping anchor, asking: "Is there a pilot on board?"

The Greek Captain was taken aback and after a moment of awkward silence said, "No, I swear it has nothing to do with me, I think I’ve been deceived."

"Deceived?"

"Yes, sir. The shipowner told me no need to apply for a pilot. My gosh, how could this happen, I apologize for my presumptuous actions..."

"Mr. Panagulis, you think this is just presumptuous?"

"I regret all this, I need to contact the shipowner, I need to contact the embassy of my country in your esteemed country."

"That is your right, but first you have to tell me truthfully, what is on the ship."

"Iron ore."

"Nothing else?"

"Nothing, I assure you."

"Where did it come from?"

"From Brazil Puntada Madre Port, we circled half the globe, we sailed over eleven thousand miles, we are very tired, my man is injured, we need fair treatment!"

Han Yu had dealt with foreigners for nearly two years and knew them too well.

When they are in power, they are unbearably arrogant, looking down upon people from developing countries, disdainful and contemptuous.

When they run into trouble, they become cowardly and try to look pitiful in every way.

Slacking off at work, resting every so often, and if you say a few words to them, they get upset and easily strike.

Once, while loading cargo in a foreign port, merely because the foreman reprimanded a few workers, hundreds of workers at the dock dropped their tools and the whole port went on strike for three days.

For a minor illness or a slight injury they want to go to the hospital, to take leave for recovery, demanding various compensations related to the injury from the employers...

Han Yu wouldn’t be moved by his few words, and pressed on: "Where do you plan to deliver the cargo?"

The Greek Captain hesitated, looked at the waterway map that the Chief Officer just dried, and said nervously: "To a port called Zhenjiang, if I remember correctly, the consignee will un/load it there for a second time and then transfer it to a barge convoy to sail upstream to a port called Hanwu."

"Where is the shipowner from?"

"Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Bodar Shipping Company."

"And the consignee?"

"Mr. Police Officer, you will have to ask the shipowner."

"Alright, how many crew members on board?"

"Sixteen."

...

The Deputy Director Chen of the Water Rescue Center could hear the radio transmission loud and clear, but did not understand a word.

Han Xiangning also felt puzzled and stood at the bow of the Supervision Boat, holding the walkie-talkie, wanting to speak but stopping herself. She really wanted to ask her junior colleague what was happening, but he was interrogating the foreign crew and should not be interrupted.

"Xiang Ning, Traffic Control Center is asking for a situation report."

"Wait a bit longer."

Han Xiangning was secretly anxious, and Han Yu had almost finished the interrogation. He raised the walkie-talkie to report: "Director Chen, this is Han Yu. This is a ship owned by a Hong Kong shipowner, the Captain is Greek, with a total of sixteen crew members aboard carrying iron ore, planning to deliver to Zhenjiang.

There is no pilot aboard, they did not appoint a Ship Agency to apply for entry, constituting illegal entry. If I’m not mistaken, they are likely planning to evade fees under the shipowner’s instructions."

Appointing a Ship Agency to handle relevant application procedures costs money.

Hiring a pilot costs money.

Docking at the port costs money.

In other words, entering in accordance with regulations would require a significant amount of money.

Sneaking into the Yangtze River silently and choosing a relatively secluded small port or a deeper anchorage for transshipment before quietly returning the same way would save a considerable amount of fees.

Thinking that such incidents had happened more than once, Han Xiangning subconsciously turned to look back at Deputy Director Chen.

Deputy Director Chen gathered his thoughts and quickly raised the walkie-talkie: "Received, I will report to the Traffic Control Center right away."

"Wait, there’s an injured person on the ship."

Han Yu looked up at the foreign ship’s bridge and added: "Their ship is old and in disrepair; the bridge glass is too fragile to withstand washing and their third officer has been injured by the shattered glass and needs to be taken to the hospital for treatment."

A foreign crew member is injured!

Deputy Director Chen was shocked.

Han Xiangning was startled and instinctively raised the walkie-talkie: "Salted Fish, what are you waiting for, hurry and have them let down the ladder and get the injured person down to go to the hospital."

"Our crew have to train, have to take the Four Small Certificates, they have to undergo the same training, there is first aid on board and there are first aid kits, and besides, a small injury won’t kill anyone."

"Then... what do we do now?"

"Wait."

"Wait?" Han Xiangning turned to look at Deputy Director Chen, confused: "We’ve already intercepted it, could it be that we don’t go aboard for an inspection?"

"You can go on board for inspection, but I can’t."

Han Yu peered at the Supervision 37 that had just come around and continued: "They claim they are carrying iron ore, but no one can be sure if that’s true, and we don’t know if they have guns or whether they will submit to an inspection willingly, so you can’t go aboard for the time being."

"You are police, why can’t you go aboard!"

"I am police, but I am neither Border Guards nor Border Inspection; according to regulations, not only can I not board the ship, even 001 cannot get close to it."

Vessels that dock must undergo Customs and Border Guards supervision, and without permission, no one is allowed to board.

The same applies to vessels anchored in an anchorage; even operations by harbor tugs or transfer boats must be approved in accordance with regulations.

This foreign vessel that has illegally entered the Yangtze River has not gone through the entry process, according to the procedure the local police indeed cannot board, and the foreign crew aboard cannot come ashore either.

Deputy Director Chen realized this and quickly said: "Understood, we’ll keep watch for now and report to the superiors."

...

and the two Supervision Boats thus patrolled around the Pride Wine on the river for approximately forty-five minutes until the Port Supervision Bureau and Customs Law Enforcement Boats arrived.

Binjiang Border Inspection Station only has two small motorboats that usually patrol around the foreign ships in the port; they cannot withstand the large waves on Yingchuan Port’s river surface, and the Border Guards had to come aboard the Port Supervision Bureau and Customs Law Enforcement Boats.

Border Guards are armed; with the presence of the Border Guards, the Port Supervision and Customs law enforcement personnel can board the ship without any concern for Han Yu.

Considering that everyone had been busy all day and were starving, he immediately had Captain Wang return to base.

But as soon as they docked at the Water Rescue Center’s Floating Pier, Director Zhou’s voice came over the radio.

"Salted Fish, Salted Fish, this is Zhou Hong, did you intercept a foreign vessel and use a high-pressure water cannon?"

"Yes, that’s what happened. Port Supervision, Customs, and Border Inspection have just taken over, and we’ve just returned from the anchorage."

"Was there an injury to a foreign crew member?"

"The Greek Captain said their third officer was slightly injured."

Director Zhou was on duty today, and as soon as he heard the Port Supervision’s report, he rushed to the sixth floor of the Traffic Control Center.

He looked at the communication records provided by the Traffic Control Center staff and asked with a sour face: "It’s a foreign vessel, how could you use a high-pressure water cannon so readily?"

"Director Zhou, they were making an illegal entry."

"I know. I am at the Traffic Control Center. What I mean is, even if they were illegally entering, you could have just followed them after you found them suspicious... Instead, you used a water cannon without exchanging words, shattering their bridge glass and causing injuries."

"It’s not that I acted without exchanging words; they ignored warnings and paid no attention to me."

Han Yu felt he had done nothing wrong but didn’t want Zhu Baogen to worry, closed the door to the command cabin, and emphasized: "We first used the radio to repeatedly hail them, they feigned deafness and did not respond. I turned on the warning lights, sounded the alarm, and used the loudspeaker to hail them, but they still didn’t listen and instead increased speed heading upstream."

"And then?"

"I warned them three times, gave them three chances, they did not cherish them, so I had to play it tough."

"But..."

"Director Zhou, if our cargo ships in other countries’ territorial waters do not hang signal flags following international customs and do not obey the commands of others, they would not be as lenient with us. Moreover, they were not just entering our territorial waters, but had penetrated over a hundred kilometers into our territory! What if they weren’t just evading fees but plotting harm?"

"What would happen if our ships encountered such a situation abroad?"

"The others might shoot or even shell, helicopters would fly over our heads, and they might even deploy warships."

Director Zhou didn’t necessarily think Salted Fish was wrong. The main reason he said those things was out of concern for Salted Fish.

If the superiors decided that the handling was not appropriate, it’s hard to say whether Salted Fish would be held responsible.

After all, it was not the first time that a foreign vessel had entered the Yangtze River, and in a narrow sense, this should be under the jurisdiction of Border Guards; the local police taking such drastic measures may be seen as meddling by those who like to nitpick.

But in a broader sense, as it involves national sovereignty, not only does Binjiang Water Police have the right to intercept, even ordinary citizens have the right to intervene!

Director Zhou was silent for a moment, turned back to the Traffic Control Center’s staff, and again lifted the communicator: "You’ve been busy all day, from rescuing to intercepting a foreign ship, you must be tired, go back and rest first. After resting, write a detailed report of the process from the discovery of their suspiciousness to stopping them and send it to the department."