Full of responsibility and affection

“Break time is over, the whole ship's alarm sounds, the whole ship's alarm sounds”. “It's time for lunch, please invite the leader and the working group to the dining rooms to eat”. “The working group is preparing to enter the island. Boat team number 1 is transporting goods to the island... ”. That is just a part of what anyone who visits Truong Sa island district and DK platform on the southern continental shelf of the Fatherland is impressed and familiar with as a very unique feature of the ships. From the alarm clock, schedule, tasks of each department, information about the history, characteristics, geographical location of the sea and islands... to the announcement of bedtime every night... always helps the guests feel more secure, understand better what to do and where they are going.

Every year, there are nearly a dozen trips out to sea to pick up and drop off groups, so the entire unit often focuses on the trips and the entire group of dozens of officers, sailors, crew members, and employees of the ship devote all their efforts to all preparations and tasks to receive admiration and the best evaluation for the entire ship. From Captain of the KN-290 ship Quach Huu Quang, Political Commissar Nguyen Thanh Chung... to Hoang Si Su - the oldest ship driver, Vo Ta Quan - the youngest brother born in 1999, despite being very busy, always smiles brightly in response to hundreds of questions and hundreds of "requested" tasks! The group's journey of 10 days or so requires careful preparation so that all guests can bathe in fresh water, have enough fresh vegetables, food for 2 main meals and 2 snacks each day.

Just talking about vegetables, although the ship has a storage cabinet, by the 5th and 6th day onwards, (except for cabbage and fruits), all vegetables start to have wilted leaves, so the work of the military nutrition department becomes even more difficult as it takes a lot of time to pick vegetables. Everyone knows that in order for more than 300 people to have their first meal at 5am, the military nutrition department has to wake up at 3am, then for lunch, dinner, and snacks, they go to bed at 12am at the earliest. Chef Tran Le Hung and his colleagues are also ready to meet the requests of the crew members who do not eat rice, they can choose pho or instant noodles.

Electromechanical employee Hoang Xuan Hong checks the ship's engine.

Captain QNCN, doctor Pham Thi Hong Duyen, who was assigned to the task of ensuring the health of the ship, is always present to support the military feeding team. Ms. Duyen shared more: “The service team is all men, but all the work from washing, ironing, cleaning the ship's floor, the rooms, unclogging the toilets... we are willing to do everything. Honestly, we are very tired but always try to make the guests satisfied.”

What Duyen said was satisfactory, I found out and learned that: Every time guests came to the island to do their duty, everyone split up to go to the cleaning rooms. They were willing to fold the blankets, curtains, and even the underwear that the owner hastily left behind. Many people initially “didn’t understand” that there was a Tam maid, but later became more aware before leaving the room. Another thing, guests on the ship always received maximum help for any legitimate needs that were raised such as: Replenishing toothpaste; borrowing a chess board for entertainment, fishing rods, and even... grilling squid... Many people commented: On shore, there were many things missing, but on the ship, nothing was missing!

Trust, admiration

The KN-290 is a modern ship built domestically but with imported technology. The ship is fully equipped with modern equipment, chart work, smooth and convenient operation, and can be set to automatic mode for many stages such as auto-steering, auto-engine... but that is only the "surface" part that is easy to see on the ship. I followed Mr. Hoang Xuan Hong, Le Van Lien and Le Hoan, the shift electromechanical workers, down to the engine room. The heavy iron door opened and the engine roared, the capacity of the 4 main engines, each 2240KW (equivalent to 3000CV), the noise level of the machine is 150 decibels. No wonder everyone had a noise-canceling headset that looked like a giant headphone.

Le Hoan said like a specialist: Noise causes direct and indirect impacts on human health such as hearing loss, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, sleep disorders, and changes in immune function. Also in the engine room, the average temperature is about 41-42 degrees Celsius. I had not been down for 10 minutes but was sweating like a shower, while the whole engine shift was 3 hours! On this ship, the sailors and crew members had their longest trip on duty at sea for... 93 days! No wonder there are no fat guys in the electromechanical industry. That is on modern ships, on smaller ships, old-generation transport ships it is even different...

The conditions for carrying out the mission were difficult, but the will and determination of the staff on board were incomparable. Their steely resolve in the face of big waves and strong winds was only a part of it, they also had to face even greater provocations from foreign ships. There were times when water cannons were fired, they collided, and they cut each other off... but our ships remained calm, clever, and determined to repel the enemy's plot, contributing to firmly protecting the rights and sovereignty of the sacred sea and islands of the Fatherland.

Article and photos: HAI LINH