In early May, when we learned that the workers on the two fishing control ships had signed contracts for a period of 6 months, we proposed to the leaders of the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Control: "As soon as the fleet is operational again, allow reporters from Nghe An Newspaper to join the first trip...". The leaders of the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Control agreed on the condition that "at sea is not the same as on land, there must be a letter of introduction from the newspaper because we have to ensure the safety of the people on board"; along with the promise that "fishery control work at sea has been temporarily suspended for a while, so the Department will plan to go to sea soon".
However, due to rough seas, as the Chief of Fisheries Control Tran Chau Thanh said, "people's hearts are favorable, but heaven is not favorable", it was not until May 11 that we were informed that "on the morning of May 13, ship KN-688-NA will leave shore".
As scheduled, at 8:00 a.m. on May 13, we went to pier 1 of Cua Lo port where the fisheries inspection ship was anchored. At this time, the fisheries inspection ship was already full of members of the interdisciplinary working group. They were officers from the Fisheries Inspection Department - Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Inspection; officers from the Provincial Police, Border Guard, an officer from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dien Chau district; and of course, indispensable were the ship operators - the newly re-signed workers. The contract workers operating the fisheries inspection ship included captain Vu Xuan Trong, chief sailor Vu Viet Nam, mechanic Luong Van Dieu and deputy captain Nguyen Huu Hao.
As soon as he saw the Nghe An Newspaper reporters getting off the ship, Deputy Captain Nguyen Huu Hao smiled brightly and enthusiastically introduced us to the members of the delegation. Seeing that, Head of the Fisheries Control Department Tran Chau Thanh half-jokingly, half-seriously said: "Today, the crew members remember to cook something fresh to thank the journalists...". Asked if the crew members' mental health had stabilized yet? Was there anyone who did not return to work? Deputy Captain Nguyen Huu Hao replied: "Very good. All 10 crew members have agreed to return to work. The captain of the KN-688-NA Tran Chau Thanh went to work in Thailand for a while, and now he has returned. Recently, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development issued a document agreeing for the Sub-Department to sign long-term contracts with all 10 crew members. By the beginning of June, we will be able to sign a new contract according to Decree 111/2022/ND-CP...".
Receiving information from Deputy Captain Nguyen Huu Hao, taking advantage of the time when the Head of the Delegation assigned patrol work, he contacted the leaders of the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance. After a few minutes, he was able to access Document No. 1730/SNN-TCCB dated May 6, 2024 on "signing a labor contract to work on a fisheries surveillance vessel" of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Here, there is the content "The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development agrees to allow the Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Surveillance to sign a contract according to Decree No. 111/2022/ND-CP dated December 30, 2022 of the Government to perform support work for the above 10 workers, pay salaries and salary-based allowances from the career fund for protecting aquatic resources provided by the state budget".
Talking to captain Vu Viet Nam: What to do during the time when the contract is suspended? Nam smiled and said that his family lives in Dien Phong commune, Dien Chau district, his wife has a grocery store so he came home to help his wife. He confided: “I have worked on a fishing control ship for 10 years so I was very sad when my contract was suspended. But even though I was sad, I had to think about finding a new job to stabilize my life. I also had a few options to choose from, but at the right time, I received a notice from the Sub-Department to sign a contract to return to work. Now I feel very secure, very happy…”.
For mechanic Luong Van Dieu, born and raised in the mountainous district of Huong Khe in Ha Tinh province, when his contract was terminated, he also returned home. Dieu said that in the first month, when he saw his husband constantly at home, his wife had questions and inquiries. At that time, Dieu hid the fact that he was at risk of losing his job, delaying to answer to get the matter over with. When the media reported the news, knowing that he could not hide it, he finally told the whole story. Luong Van Dieu confided: “Everyone in my family sympathizes. Our situation was due to regulations. I have been attached to the ship for more than 10 years, so I am very happy to be able to return to work, thank you everyone for your concern…”.
When the Head of the delegation, Tran Chau Thanh, finished explaining to the members the sea patrol plan with the sentence "If you go out to sea and just say "oh" once, there will be nothing left, so everyone should be aware of protecting themselves", it was also the time when Captain Vu Xuan Trong let the ship KN-688-NA leave Cua Lo port. The ship sped through the waves, after about 40 minutes, Ngu island had receded far away, fading away behind...
According to the plan, the Inter-sectoral Working Group will patrol the Mat Island area. Because of the wind at level 4 and 5, the sea surface is covered with millions of green waves, and the KN-688-NA ship is constantly shaking. Captain Vu Xuan Trong, 59 years old, with 35 years of experience in driving ships, while steering the ship, he looks at the sea with binoculars and comments: "The sea is rough so there will likely be few fishing boats catching seafood...". Indeed, it was only when he clearly saw Mat Island that he saw a black dot on the sea. The captain announced: There is a fishing boat ahead. Then he let the Head of the Group control the ship, took the binoculars out to the deck and pointed them at the black dot to observe. After more than a minute, the elderly captain returned to report to the Head of the Group "it's a crab ball ship..." and then stood in the driving position to increase speed. After about 10 minutes, when almost catching up with the fishing boat, the leader of the group pressed the signal horn, and the deputy captain held the fisheries inspection flag and waved it at the front of the boat, asking the fishing boat to stop for inspection.
At this time, the captain Vu Viet Nam boarded the canoe with 3 crew members. He skillfully steered the canoe to draw an arc of waves and then glided across the sea. The sea was vast, the canoe was only like a small leaf, but a few minutes later Nam had approached the fishing boat for the members to board. And in just that time, the members on the fishing boat used the walkie-talkie to report back: "This is a crab fishing boat with the registration number TH-91674-TS from Quang Xuong district, Thanh Hoa province. The boat has just committed the crime of fishing in the wrong direction, and also shows signs of not having legal documents..." At this time, the fishing control boat had approached Mat island, about 6-7 fishing boats appeared on the sea. The captain Tran Chau Thanh directed 2 members to stay on the TH-91674-TS boat to check the documents, while the captain Vu Viet Nam and another member returned to pick up more people to check the other fishing boats.
Nearly an hour passed, the inspection of fishing vessels was completed. The working group reminded and requested 2 fishing vessels that had not yet painted their registration numbers on their hulls. However, at this time, a member of the TH-91674-TS vessel reported that the vessel had stalled and asked for instructions. Together with the members, they quickly discussed and determined that this was a trick to make the inspection difficult. Therefore, they reminded Captain Vu Xuan Trong to let the fishing control vessel approach the TH-91674-TS fishing vessel, and at the same time, directed the chief sailor Vu Viet Nam to drive a canoe to pick up 2 members of the delegation and the captain of the TH-91674-TS fishing vessel to bring their documents to the fishing control vessel for work.
Regarding the documents of the fishing boat TH-91674-TS, brought by the captain Mr. Hoang Van Manh, after inspection, the interdisciplinary working group determined that they were not legal. Even after a very careful inspection by the Head of the delegation Tran Chau Thanh, Deputy Head of the Fisheries Control Department Hoang Sy Thiet and the officer of the Economic Security Department of the Provincial Police, Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Khac Loc, there were some documents showing signs of laxity of some agencies and functional units. These contents were all discussed in detail by the members of the working group with Mr. Hoang Van Manh.
However, during the working period that lasted nearly 3 hours, from 10:30 a.m. to exactly 1:30 a.m., Mr. Hoang Van Manh cited many reasons to justify himself, then used the reason that the ship's engine had broken down to refuse to bring the fishing boat ashore to work according to regulations. Faced with the insincere attitude of the captain of the fishing boat TH-91674-TS, Head of the delegation Tran Chau Thanh directed the captain to use a winch to anchor the fishing boat to the fisheries inspection boat to pull it into Lach Lo. Faced with the strict attitude of the working delegation, Mr. Hoang Van Manh left all the documents on the fisheries inspection boat, jumped into the sea and swam back to the fishing boat.
Because Mr. Hoang Van Manh's behavior showed recklessness and impulsiveness; moreover, with the authentic evidence recorded during the working time, the Working Group decided not to create more tension at sea. Head of the delegation Tran Chau Thanh decided: "This incident needs to be specifically reported to the superior agency, to have a document sent to the competent agency of Thanh Hoa province to coordinate in handling the case of fishing boat TH-91674-TS. It will even be necessary to request a report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development...
At the end of the trip, we returned to Cua Lo port at 3:40 p.m. Here, we had lunch prepared by the crew while the interdisciplinary working group worked with Mr. Hoang Van Manh. The meal for the patrolmen was quite simple, consisting of only a few seafood dishes, a bowl of sour soup, etc., but everyone was very happy.
Captain Vu Xuan Trong confided that he personally had only a few more years to retire, but he was very sad and worried when he received the news that his contract was terminated. Sad because the 10 brothers who had been together for so long would each go their separate ways, and their future lives were uncertain. Worried because the ship was not operating, and the unit's fisheries inspection work at sea was suspended. However, those worries have now been resolved because all 10 people have signed long-term contracts to stay with the fisheries inspection ship for a long time, on sea patrols.
The wrinkled face of the captain from Quynh Long commune (Quynh Luu) showed obvious emotion as he said: “We are very grateful to our superiors, the industry, and the press agencies… for their care and support over the past time. These feelings are the motivation for us to be more committed and devoted to the assigned tasks…”.