By 6 pm, Senior Lieutenant Hong Xuan Hoa presented at the port. Hoa is the captain of the boat carrying the working mission of the Ministry of Public Security and the Quang Ninh Provincial Police Department to Minh Chau island on an urgent working trip.
According to Hoa, unlike the traffic on land, there are no lights in the sea, so the driver must be extremely careful while steering boats to ensure safety for passengers. This also requires the captain to know everything about the sea area, from the seawater currents to the weather, reefs and waves.
Lieutenant Hoa is known by local people as a talented captain with rich experience in steering boats in the sea area. He is also a brave soldier who is always ready to save people in trouble at sea.
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During the historic storm that hit Ha Long so hard in 2015, Senior Lieutenant Hoa and other 4 police officers had bravely struggled against dangerous high waves and strong winds to save six people taking shelter at a mount in the sea.
The meeting and talks with Hoa and other waterway police officers of Quang Ninh gave us a new insight to the work of the waterway police.
According to a story told by the waterway police, in 2015, the section of Highway 18A along the Deo But pass, Quang Hanh ward, Cam Pha City was heavily flooded. From 6 am on July 28, dozens of police officers and soldiers of the Traffic Police Division and the Waterway Police Sub-Division of the Quang Ninh Police were deployed to the area for an urgent rescue mission.
At that time, Senior Colonel Dang Van Thinh, Head of the Quang Ninh Waterway Police Sub-Division was also present at the scene to lead a mission of three motorboats and other vehicles in collaboration with other functional forces to realize rescue plans.
By noon, two motorboats suddenly stopped as the rain was getting harder, wetting the engines of the motorboats. The mission decided to leave the vehicles and waded in the water from 6 am to 2 pm to transport 8 freights of food to flood-affected households and passengers who were trapped on the Highway due to the heavy downpours.
The mission also took three sick people out of the flooded area to hospital in time, and guided many delegations of the province to the flooded areas.
Not only being excellent at ensuring security at sea, many police officers and soldiers of the Quang Ninh Waterway Police are also good at communicating. They are always happy to talk, support and help tourists in general, foreign tourists in particular during their patrols in Ha Long Bay.
The stories about the lives and work of the waterway police in Quang Ninh made we feel that, regardless of rough seas, storms or rains, and in any circumstances, brave waterway police officers and soldiers are always ready for missions. Waterway police officers cannot remember how many lives they have saved, how many boats they have towed out of storms.
In fact, the silent work of the Quang Ninh Waterway Police has been highly appreciated by local fishermen and tourists. They have given the waterway police the beloved name “Knights in the middle of the sea.”
In 2019, the Quang Ninh Waterway Police in collaboration with other forces ensured safety for 172,438 tourist boats carrying 3,933,468 tourists, including 2,571,618 foreign tourists, in Ha Long Bay.
The unit discovered and handled 3,916 traffic safety violations with the total fine of nearly 4 billion VND, arrested 155 suspects involved in 152 criminal cases.
Further, the unit actively promoted the movement of “All people protecting national security” and in coordination with the Ha Long Tourist Ship Association implemented the “3-No” model, which are no accident, no theft and no crime in Ha Long.
According to Colonel Nguyen Thuan, Deputy Director of the Quang Ninh Provincial Police Department, every year, the provincial police leadership set up inspection teams to inspect the operation of subordinate police units and visit the local troops and people ahead of the Lunar New Year.
During the time, the local police forces also collaborate closely with local authorities and other functional forces to ensure traffic safety on islands and waterways, contributing to bringing a safe and happy Tet to all people.
