Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1186 - 51: So What If You Have Connections?

"Linghai Cargo 306, what did I tell you? Why aren't you stopping when I told you to stop?"

"Port Supervision comrade, I need to dock the boat on the side first!"

You have a loudspeaker, and so do I on my boat.

Han Shen grew up running boats and knows exactly how to handle a situation with port supervision.

The anchor can only serve as a positioning aid; it can't keep the boat steady. If you foolishly believe them and cut the engine and drop anchor in the middle of the river, the boat could drift with the current and wind, possibly colliding with other vessels.

More importantly, they only told us to stop and drop anchor, without specifying where. If you foolishly stop and anchor on the spot, they will accuse you of obstructing the waterway and use it as an excuse to fine you.

Han Shen put down the loudspeaker communicator, gently steered the wheel to maneuver the boat towards the riverbank, and brought out his phone to call his sister-in-law.

Old Han didn't want to trouble his daughter-in-law, but these port supervisors are too tricky. He pretended not to see, opened his briefcase, and started organizing all the certificates and documents.

Ji Xiaohong had attended crew training and knew what needed to be done for anchoring; she searched out the black ball to hang on the mast.

Luo Yanfeng put on gloves and ran over to organize the ropes.

To anchor properly, one must tie at least two ropes to the shore, to ensure safety.

Yang Sanwang paused for a moment, then raised his walkie-talkie to call his colleagues checking the smaller boats ahead: "Old Wang, you guys check the small boats, and I, along with Old Chen and Xiao Xu, will check the big one."

Meanwhile, Han Xiangning couldn't continue her meal. She asked Sister Zhu to help take care of Little Han Han, quickly stepped out of the restaurant, holding her phone up: "Big brother, it was too noisy earlier, I didn't hear clearly, please repeat."

"Xiang Ning, we're in Wujiang. There are several checkpoints in this section of Wujiang, and the port supervision here is utterly unreasonable..."

Han Shen briefly explained the situation, turned off the engine, and looked at the small motorboat slowly approaching, then with a bitter face said, "You know my dad's temper if he really loses it, I'm worried something might happen!"

As a seasoned marine traffic enforcement management officer, Han Xiangning wasn't surprised by the local maritime authorities' arbitrary fines.

Because in some places, local maritime authorities wield law enforcement as a guise for making money, linked to a series of institutional contradictions. Organizations like the Linghai local maritime office are self-financing institutions; they don't feed off the public budget, relying entirely on fines returned for payroll.

The return rate is usually seventy percent; the more fines imposed, the more gets returned.

The local government welcomes this, appreciating the extra revenue.

This budget arrangement objectively leads to enforcement driven by fine collection, perpetuating financial extortion, especially amidst widespread overloading in water transportation, making fines possible.

Although I've heard ships' crews complain countless times about hefty fines on the Xinghu-Shen Line and the Grand Canal, I never expected local maritime authorities to fine even those that aren't overloaded.

Father-in-law, who used to be the motor sailboat captain for the Linghai Shipping Company, has spent these years showing off on the river, boasting fully certified papers and complete equipment. Whenever seeing boats that don't follow traffic rules or misbehave, he would scold via radio, even report to traffic control, and hasn't been taken advantage of or suffered grievances for a long time.

Han Xiangning, worried about her father-in-law's fiery temper causing trouble, feared he might get into a fight with Wujiang Maritime, complicating rights and wrongs.

She swiftly weighed the options and urgently said, "Brother, you must keep Dad calm!"

"Those people are just here to issue fines, not to mention Dad, even I can't stay calm."

"Even if it's hard, you must stay calm. Reason with them properly first."

"The problem is they're not reasonable!"

"If they're unreasonable, there are places where we can reason; if they truly impose arbitrary fines, we can find their superiors or even seek administrative review."

"How do we find them?"

"Aren't I here, brother, don't be anxious, listen to me..."

Han Xiangning meticulously explained, and Han Shen nodded repeatedly.

By this time, three local Marine Law Enforcement Officers had already climbed onto Old Han's boat.

Han Shen quickly rummaged out a portable player he had bought at Sansing Home Textile City, capable of playing tapes as well as recording, pressed the record button to confirm recording started, and immediately slipped it into his pocket, ran over to whisper a few words to the old man.

Old Han immediately gained confidence, decided to deal with the picky Wujiang Port Supervisor with diplomacy first, force later.

"Comrade, have a cigarette."

"I don't smoke."

Yang Sanwang pushed away Old Han's arm, looking at the coal in the cargo hold said, "You're overloaded, and that's dangerous. According to regulations, it must be penalized!"

Old Han asked dully, "Comrade, are we overloaded?"

"With so much loaded, if it's not overloaded, then what is it?"

"It's not that much, comrade, may I ask your surname?"

"My surname is Yang, I'm the Deputy Director Yang Sanwang of Luxu Maritime Office; see clearly, this is my ID."

Old Han glanced at the two officers next to him and asked, "And these two?"

The crew on large ships are usually experienced with dealing with big situations, being difficult to handle is normal.

Yang Sanwang glanced back and said coldly, "These two are our maritime department's assistants."

What assistants, just temporary workers?

As for you, the deputy director, your ID shows you're not a regular enforcer either, the ID's seal is from Wujiang County's Transportation Bureau, not the Transportation Department.

Old Han decided to listen to his daughter-in-law, smiled and explained, "Director Yang, this is a thousand-ton boat, carrying only five hundred tons of coal, how can it be overloaded."

"Only five hundred tons?"

"If you don't believe me, you can check the load line or look at the waybills and the port's loading documents."

To actually find a boat not overloaded...