Stories on the voyage to Truong Sa…

Hope each "wave"

After days of isolation to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic at Cam Ranh military port, on December 21, ship 490 began to depart carrying a working delegation and reporters to visit the district.Spratly Islandsacred place of the Fatherland. The ship left the port, the excitement and anticipation were evident on the faces of each member. After the moment of waving goodbye to the mainland, everyone took advantage of every moment to look at the ocean, check-in on the ship, especially those who were going to sea for the first time.

Song Tu Tay Island seen from afar. Photo: Quang An

The further the ship is from shore, the easier it is to notice that the phone signal bars decrease, from 5 bars to 1-2 bars and then turn off completely after about 2 hours of the ship moving, cutting off contact with the mainland. For those who often have to work, operate by phone, watch news, surf social networking sites Facebook, Zalo every day... the feeling of being away from technology is very strange.

During the days drifting at sea, without a single wave, many people wanted to call their families and friends, to tell them about their first time on a ship, going to sea, or to ask about the situation back home, but they were unable to. Feeling both seasick and without a phone signal, most members of the working group had never experienced this feeling before.

Whenever there is signal, the members of the working group take the opportunity to call their families. Photo: Tien Dong

As the 490 ship approachedSong Tu Tay Island, the waves gradually appeared again. In the room, we heard each other calling out “there’s a wave, there’s a wave” throughout the hallways. After that, all the members of the working group and soldiers excitedly left the room to go to higher floors to “hunt for waves”. Everyone took the opportunity to call their families, relatives, friends, units… after 2 days of complete loss of contact.

The smile of excitement and happiness was clearly visible on the face of young reporter Nguyen Viet Dung (Thai Nguyen Newspaper) after a phone call to his wife in his hometown. Upon asking, we learned that Dung's wife was preparing to give birth to their first child in early January 2023, coinciding with the time when the voyage was still taking place. After 2 days of being completely "off the air", reporter Dung was anxious about his wife's health. After a few minutes of conversation, knowing that both mother and child were still healthy, Dung breathed a sigh of relief. After some friendly advice, Dung began to share with his family about his first days at sea...

Reporters of Nghe An Newspaper working at Song Tu Tay Island, Truong Sa Archipelago. Photo: Tien Dong

Or the story of Major Nguyen Duy Trung, who went with us to Song Tu Tay Island. The day the delegation departed was also the time when his wife had to fly from Dak Lak to Hanoi to have surgery for two serious illnesses. The children were studying far away from home, and the husband was on a mission, so the task of taking his wife to surgery was up to both his paternal and maternal relatives.

After 2 days of being completely out of contact, comrade Trung was able to call his family to learn about his wife's health, took the opportunity to say words of encouragement so that his wife could rest assured while receiving treatment, and shared with her husband during his days of duty on a remote island.

The joy of reporter Viet Dung, Thai Nguyen Newspaper when he was able to contact his family after many days of no signal. Photo: Tien Dong

After leaving Song Tu Tay, the 490 ship continued to take the delegation to visit other islands. Each time they left, the phone signal was lost, so when they knew the departure schedule at each island, each member took the opportunity to contact their family, relatives, and colleagues to give instructions and arrange work at home, office, and unit. Each time they approached a new island, the signal returned, and the "wave hunting" campaign began to bustle on the ship again.

Difficulty sending news articles

The biggest difference betweenoperationat sea and on land for reporters is probably the process of sending news stories back to the editorial office. When the ship leaves port, the signal and Internet are completely lost, so it is impossible to send news stories directly to the editorial office using the traditional methods as before.

Reporters of Nghe An Newspaper took advantage of every hour to send news articles to the agency on train 490. Photo: Quang An

At the meeting with the group of reporters before leaving for Truong Sa, the Propaganda Department of Naval Region 4 instructed reporters on how to send news and articles to the editorial office. Accordingly, the ship 490 is equipped with a VSAT system, connecting data transmission from the ship to the Propaganda Department. Reporters in need can go to the ship's information and communication room, send news and articles to the Propaganda Department, then the Propaganda Department staff will receive and support sending articles to the email of the editorial offices of newspapers and radio stations.

However, the Propaganda Department staff also noted that the VSAT system only supports well when sending text files, audio recordings, and images with moderate quantity and capacity. For photos with large capacity and especially video clips, it is very difficult to send successfully. Therefore, reporters can consider, for large files, they should return to the mainland, when wifi, 4G, 5G network is available again, then sending articles will be more reasonable.

Eastern Survival Island seen from afar. Photo: Tien Dong

During the entire process of working on the ship and on the islands, the Nghe An Newspaper reporters took advantage of the time to write articles and contact the ship's information booth to send information to the editorial office. Every time the photos and text were transmitted via the VSAT system to the mainland, everyone was nervous and anxious, hoping that the transmission would not be faulty and the information would quickly return to Nghe An to serve readers.

Lieutenant Tran Quoc Bao, officer in charge of the information room of ship 490, said: “Since the beginning of the voyage, reporters from Nghe An Newspaper, Thai Nguyen Newspaper and Lao Cai Newspaper have been in the room to send news and articles via the VSAT system. The news and articles have all been successfully sent to the mainland at the request of the reporters. We are always ready to support reporters from press agencies to complete their tasks.”

Transporting goods to Song Tu Tay Island. Photo: Quang An

After knowing that their articles had been successfully sent back and published, bringing stories from the remote islands back to the mainland, to their hometown Nghe An, the group of reporters from Nghe An Newspaper working in Truong Sa always felt confident and motivated to work on the long voyage.

Joy in the middle of the sea

During the days drifting at sea, we experienced many interesting activities on the ship 490. The working group on the ship came from many different provinces and cities, so each locality and region had its own culture and specialties, which we shared together.

After each meal, on the ship or in the corridors of the rooms, the members of the working group sit together, with a cup of hot tea, telling each other interesting stories about their hometown, family, life, about their experiences or memorable stories during their work as reporters... When departing, everyone takes the opportunity to bring local specialties as gifts for each other, deepening solidarity during the long journey.

Reporters of Nghe An Newspaper working at Truong Sa archipelago. Photo: Tien Dong

To reach the sacred Truong Sa of the Fatherland is not an easy task, so each member of the working group cherished every moment. The reporters took the opportunity to ask questions and share with the soldiers on duty on the islands. In the distance, there were laughter and warm hugs between fellow countrymen meeting each other in the vast ocean waves. With a hot cup of tea and sweet peanut candy, the melodious singing of reporter Le Dao (VOV) mixed with the sound of the sailors' guitars resounded in the night, the songs about Vietnam's beloved sea and islands moved everyone.

One of the most interesting experiences was fishing on the 490. Every time the ship dropped anchor, the crew would go down to the stern to drop bait. According to Lieutenant Nguyen Thanh Luan, fishing on a ship requires many factors, besides skills, it also depends on luck. There are days when the weather is nice but no fish bites, and there are times when just casting the line brings in many "huge" fish.

Lieutenant Pham Van Ban was happy when he caught a big fish on boat 490. Photo: Quang An

Holding a lizard fish weighing about 7kg, Senior Lieutenant Pham Van Ban could not hide his joy as this was the first time he had caught such a big fish. The fish was about 40cm long, with a silvery body, fresh, and struggling on the hull of the ship. This is a species of fish that is very difficult to catch in this sea area, so everyone was excited. It is known that fishing on the ship is not only an interesting experience but also a practical activity to improve the meals for the working group after many days of using only frozen food./.