The ship has a special mission

Unlike previous trips, in this departure, officers and soldiers of Truong Sa 21 ship received a special mission of bringing working group No. 2 of the Naval Region 2 Command and reporters to visit and wish officers and soldiers on DKI platforms a Happy New Year on the occasion of the Spring of At Ty 2025.

Departing from the wharf (Ba Ria-Vung Tau province) on the morning of January 1, 2025, the working group received the task of bringing goods, necessities, Tet gifts and simple gifts from the mainland with all the affection and trust to the soldiers on the front lines of the Fatherland.

When seeing off the working delegation, Colonel Tran Manh Chien, Political Commissar of the Naval Region 2 Command, noted that performing tasks in long-term conditions at sea and unfavorable weather conditions: "The Region Command requires the working delegation on the ship to uphold responsibility, unite to overcome difficulties, and bring Tet gifts to officers and soldiers on the front line in absolute safety" - Colonel Tran Manh Chien said.

Carrying out that order, the officers and soldiers in the working group made constant efforts, tearing apart the night, "riding the waves, overcoming the wind" to bring the ship containing the entire mainland Spring to the DKI platforms in the faraway sea, the front line of the Fatherland.

After 2 consecutive days and nights, when we were still in a daze due to seasickness, we suddenly heard people cheering: "dolphins, dolphins!". Everything suddenly seemed to wake up, everyone rushed out to watch the dolphins somersaulting to welcome the ship. And the group's first stop to celebrate Tet appeared majestically on the sea - that was the DKI/9 platform (in Ba Ke cluster). The first time we saw the DKI platform in real life, we were filled with joy and excitement, all the fatigue after the long journey suddenly disappeared.

The thrilling moments

During this working trip, the delegation was assigned to inspect combat readiness and deliver Tet gifts from the Ministry of National Defense, the Navy, the Naval Region 2 Command, civil and political agencies, businesses, and local people to officers and soldiers at the Ba Ke, Phuc Tan, and Phuc Nguyen oil rigs. The goods and necessities according to the Ministry of National Defense's Tet standards for officers and soldiers to celebrate the Lunar New Year include: pigs, chickens, sticky rice, dong leaves, green beans, apricot blossoms, peach blossoms, kumquats, jams, and candies.

During the 16-day mission, the working group encountered many days of rough seas with big waves and strong winds, so the delivery of goods and New Year greetings to the platforms also encountered many difficulties. Amidst the waves and winds that made the ship sway and the sea water splashed in their faces, the soldiers remained highly focused and made persistent efforts with the determination to deliver all the goods and New Year gifts to the platforms, ensuring absolute safety and on time.

Seeing the sweat mixed with seawater soaking the faces and clothes of the officers and soldiers, we could not help but feel nervous and worried. In the middle of the vast ocean, the ship sometimes rode on the waves, sometimes seemed to be swallowed by the waves, disappeared from sight and then reappeared. Each time the goods were delivered to the rig, the members of the working group anxiously watched, only when each gift was successfully pulled up to the rig and the boat returned to the ship, the boat crew safely boarded the ship, did they breathe a sigh of relief.

To carry out the task of transporting goods and Tet gifts to the platform, from the command post, Lieutenant Colonel Trieu Thanh Tung - Deputy Chief of Staff of Naval Region 2 Command, Head of the Truong Sa 21 ship's working group, always closely followed every movement of the soldiers from tying the goods, transferring the goods to the boat... Each short and decisive order was issued.

Suddenly, Lieutenant Colonel Trieu Thanh Tung shouted "the rope is broken", everyone fell silent because that meant the operations would have to be done again from the beginning. Lunch that day was late and quieter than usual, everyone was tired and worried because they had not yet delivered the goods to the platform. Another plan was to have the goods transferred to the platform by a direct ship to ensure safety. However, not wanting to let the officers and soldiers of the platform celebrate the New Year late, the Head of the delegation decided to anchor the ship and wait until the wind calmed down.

burst of happiness

After two days of waiting, the wind and waves had calmed down a bit, and the working group continued to persevere, trying to transport the Tet goods to the DKI/17 platform. When the usual method of transporting the goods by boat or pulling them with a pulley was no longer feasible, the last resort was to divide the bags of goods into waterproof plastic bags and tie them with ropes.

From the platform, a rope was tied to a buoy and dropped into the sea. After much effort, the ship was able to connect the cargo rope to the rig rope. The distance between the rig and the ship was only a few hundred meters, but the officers and soldiers of the rig had to exert all their strength to pull the cargo through each large, roaring wave. Only when the cargo was successfully transferred to the rig did the soldiers of the Truong Sa 21 ship breathe a sigh of relief.

Sharing his feelings after completing the delivery of Tet goods to the rig, Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Minh Quang, Deputy Captain of Truong Sa 21 ship, said that when assigned the task by superiors, the entire boat crew was determined to deliver the goods to the rig.

"The process of delivering the goods was very difficult due to big waves and strong winds. Although we were worried, we still tried our best. When we were able to bring the goods up, we felt happy because we were able to deliver gifts to the soldiers on the rig," said Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Minh Quang.

(To be continued)