Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 327 - 232 Investigative Approach

After the dangerous situation was handled, they had to report the conditions to the Traffic Control Center.

Han Yu and two others towed the "Flat Barge" to the east side of the Dunship at Yanjiang Police Station and tied it to the collision-prevention piles with ropes from 001, then they braved the rain to board the ship for inspection.

Using the searchlights from 001 and flashlights, they conducted a detailed inspection, and the results left all three of them astounded.

Captain Wang couldn’t believe everything he saw and went back to 001 to get a measuring tape to take measurements.

After measuring the dimensions, he braved the torrential rain to hammer away at the rust on the windlass, not stopping until he could clearly see the words engraved on it, then returned to the Dunship with lingering curiosity.

Jin Weiguo, the Big Commander of Port Supervision Bureau’s Third Team, was at a pier in Shuzhou, but his heart was in Bailong Port, holding a VHF radio transceiver anxiously asking: "Salted Fish, what kind of ship is that, what exactly is the situation?"

Han Yu was soaked through too, he quickly wiped himself with a towel, picked up a pen, recorded the measurements he just took, and laughed: "Director Jin, you definitely won’t believe it if I tell you, I also don’t know what kind of ship this is. Calling it a Dunship it lacks superstructures, calling it a barge it looks more like a Dunship, and it’s quite different from the current floating piers we build; it’s simply an old antique."

"How old?"

"Looking at the words carved on the windlass, it was built in 1914 in the East Sea. Not only does the anchor chain windlass look very old, but the shipbuilding craftsmanship of the ship’s body is also ancient. It’s not welded; the entire ship’s steel frame structure is riveted together."

"A ship from the year 1914!"

"Yes, it’s already been eighty years by now."

If someone was sailing a ship in the middle of the night on the river and encountered such an antique ship, and if there was no one aboard the antique ship, they would definitely be scared witless.

Jin Weiguo couldn’t believe this was true, looked up at the likewise astonished Director Tang and Han Xiangning, and pressed: "Is there a ship name or number?"

"None."

The rain on his head wasn’t wiped off completely and was still dripping down.

Han Yu picked up the towel again, wiped himself, looking at the data he just recorded, he laughed and said: "The length is about 96.5 meters, the width is 9 meters, the draft is roughly 2.4 meters, the estimated total weight is about six hundred tons, the ship is divided into two layers with the cabin under the deck heavily laden, probably balanced with stones.

Both the bow and stern have two windlasses for securing anchor chains and four anchor pillars; they don’t seem to be well maintained. Although it’s been eighty years, both anchor winches can still be turned forcefully. The anchor chain is broken, so naturally, the anchor can’t be seen. From the broken ends, it seems to have only snapped recently." freewēbnoveℓ.com

It was Han Xiangning’s first time encountering such an incident and he muttered, "So, we can say it’s a water platform."

"Or perhaps it’s a flat Dunship from some pier."

"There are no such old Dunships in the Binjiang Waters."

"It might have drifted over from upstream."

Strange things happen every year, but particularly a lot this year.

Director Tang didn’t expect that Salted Fish would actually rescue an old antique ship and asked with curiosity: "Salted Fish, how is the condition of the ship?"

"It’s severely rusted, covered with rust spots. But considering it has been used for eighty years, it shows that the craftsmanship and the quality of the steel material from back then were not bad."

"An antique like this, I reckon no one will come looking for it. The typhoon will enter our jurisdiction in a few hours, you should quickly find a way to secure it properly to prevent it from drifting again due to a lost anchor."

"Understood, I’m dealing with it now."

As Director Tang said, even if the unit to which this old antique belonged knew it was at Yanjiang Police Station, they would pretend not to know.

After all, it’s too old, too outdated, and not worth much, and on top of that, it was because it wasn’t properly anchored that it became uncontrolled.

If they came looking for it, not only would they have to bear the cost of the rescue, but they might also be fined by Port Supervision. After paying the rescue cost and fines, they would still need to hire a tugboat to tow it back, and the towing also costs money; no matter how you calculate it, it’s not worth it.

Han Yu, however, was quite interested in this old antique.

Considering that relying on a single rope would hardly ensure its safety, and fearing that the typhoon might blow it away once it arrived, he quickly drove 001 next to the Dunship to find discarded tires, then came back and used steel wires to tie more than a dozen tires to both sides of the ship’s hull.

Then he used 001 to tow it to the front of the Dunship and secured it with iron chains from bow to stern, fixing it in several places.

And 001, with the help of the old antique’s anchor pillars, was moored on the outer side of the old antique.

"Uncle Zhu, hurry and connect to the shore power."

"Captain Wang, we’ve extended nine meters into the river all at once, many passing boats don’t know about it, so turn on all of 001’s mast lights, side lights, bow lights, and stern lights to prevent collisions from other boats."

"Right away."

"Salted Fish, what are you planning to do?"

Han Yu stood in the rain on the old antique, unable to resist jumping on its spacious deck, and turned back with a smile: "Our Dunship is too small, the bulwarks and deck are too narrow, with this addition it’s so much more spacious, almost like a small square."

Captain Wang realized what he meant, and looked at him with a smile, asking: "Do you want to keep this old antique?"

"Nine out of ten chances no one will want it; what we pick up on the river is ours."

Han Yu smiled, his face beaming with enthusiasm, and said: "A house cannot lack a yard, and a unit cannot lack a small square, look how good it feels with this addition."

Captain Wang walked onto the deck of the old antique, braved the rain to look around, and laughed: "Having this platform feels different from not having it."

Han Yu walked to the top of the deck and turned around, saying: "When we have money in the future, I plan to install a flagpole here. Bailong Port Primary School holds a flag-raising ceremony every Monday. Right now, we are a police station, but in the future as a Water Police Squadron, if we have the conditions, we should also raise the flag."

True to being a Direct Disciple of Xu Sanye, if Xu Sanye were alive, he would surely think the same way.

Captain Wang nodded slightly and went back to 001 to turn on the lights, even though navigation was forbidden along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River today, some boats were unaware, so it was necessary to display the lights and shapes to notify passing boats to be cautious and give way.

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