Maintaining maritime security

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - The Hai Hoa Border Guard Station is tasked with managing and protecting 23.5km of coastline in an area with a high population density, where the majority of people make a living from fishing and processing seafood. Along with local fishermen, hundreds of boats and fishermen from within and outside the province regularly enter and leave the area for operation.

The Hai Hoa Border Guard Station disseminates and educates fishermen about the law.

To effectively carry out its duties in the areas under its responsibility, the Hai Hoa Border Guard Station has actively coordinated with local authorities to disseminate and mobilize the people to implement the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's laws on borders, seas, and islands; building a solid foundation of public support in protecting the sovereignty and security of the maritime border. The unit always proactively coordinates with other forces and uses local fishermen to gather information in the sea area. Search and rescue operations are always considered one of the unit's key and regular tasks, aiming to minimize losses of life and property for the people in the maritime border area.

The unit regularly organizes training sessions on the "four on-the-spot" principle; strengthens political and ideological education and political fortitude for officers and soldiers participating in search and rescue operations. At the same time, it mobilizes households to relocate spontaneously established aquaculture cages away from designated storm shelter areas, ensuring safe waterway traffic. It conducts inspections at two estuaries, monitoring 3,643 vehicles and 12,523 people, and participates in 3 search and rescue operations at sea, rescuing 3 victims.

Major Hoang Ngoc Trung, Political Officer of Hai Hoa Border Guard Station, said: "In recent years, the weather has been complex and unpredictable, negatively impacting fishing activities at sea, causing damage to machinery, equipment, and vessels operating at sea, and leading to shipwrecks... Following the directives of the Party Committee and the Command of the Border Guard Force of the province with the motto "determination - timeliness - effectiveness," the unit regularly maintains a crew of officers and soldiers ready to mobilize for rescue and relief missions when situations occur at sea; advising the Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue Command at all levels to effectively coordinate the response to ship accidents at sea."

The Thanh Hoa Provincial Border Guard Command currently manages and protects the sovereignty and security of the maritime border along a stretch of over 102km. To strengthen the fishermen's confidence, the coastal border guard force has recently coordinated with relevant departments and units to implement many effective movements and models, such as: "Self-managed safe fishing boat groups" and "Self-managed security and order groups at sea." Participating in these models, fishermen regularly receive legal education, build solidarity, and support each other in venturing out to sea and maintaining their livelihoods. Fishermen also actively and proactively provide valuable information about the security situation at sea, working alongside the border guard to safeguard the sovereignty and security of the nation's seas and islands.

With the motto "Proactive prevention, timely response, prompt and effective remediation, with prevention as the main focus," units under the Provincial Border Guard Command are always ready with plans, forces, and means for timely and effective response. They coordinate with other forces and localities to manage, inspect, and promptly supplement civilian personnel and means to participate in protecting the sovereignty of the sea and islands, maintaining 20 official vessels and 20 reserve vessels along with other forces ready to participate in protecting maritime and island sovereignty.

Over the past five years, the Border Guard Force has rescued 65 incidents involving 475 people and 47 vessels; relocated 850 households to safe shelters; and urged 87,000 vessels to seek shelter from storms. Border Guard units have organized public awareness campaigns, distributed thousands of maps tracking the paths of storms and tropical depressions to fishermen; maintained the operation of 422 solidarity groups for fishing vessels, ensuring safety at sea with over 1,800 vessels and 3,400 members participating, assisting each other in production and actively participating in disaster prevention, search and rescue; and promoted the "four on-the-spot" principle in responding to incidents and natural disasters. They have also coordinated with relevant agencies to advise on and support the installation of vessel tracking systems for fishing vessels, contributing to the effective management of fishing activities at sea and ensuring good communication and disaster prevention when venturing out to sea.

Text and photos: Tuan Khoa

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/giu-vung-an-ninh-vung-bien-255793.htm