Burst
Written by: Zhu Yashuang
2020-07-24 07:00
Last update date: 2020-07-24 07:00A serious accident occurred in the customs fleet six months ago. A shallow-water patrol boat was hit and capsized while chasing the smuggled boat on the sand bar, resulting in the death of three customs officers from the Maritime Operations Division of the Port and Maritime Division. The accident triggered a customs officer who had served in the fleet for many years to worry about the safety of duty. He questioned the fact that the fleet did not have a "water test" and worried that the customs officer would be unable to save himself if he fell into the sea. He also criticized the addition of a "pressure-free" assessment after the accident for no improvement; in addition, the fleet has been understaffed for a long time, the proportion of trainee customs officers is high, and the fleet is not well-versed in operations, which poses a safety concern for the fleet.
The shallow water patrol boat of the same type as the Customs Sand Chau ship capsized on January 21 was deactivated after the accident and moored at the Stonecutters Island Government Dockyard. (Photo by Cai Zhengbang)
According to the Security Bureau’s response to the Legislative Council document last month, there are currently more than 320 members of the Customs Maritime Operations Division, which is dedicated to combating smuggling at sea. The customs fleet is equipped with more than 20 different types of vessels, including regional patrol boats, high-speed interceptor boats, shallow water patrol boats, harbour boats and inflatable rubber boats. They are on duty in the waters of Hong Kong 24 hours a day, including vessel searches, cargo inspections, coastal patrols, etc. .
The customs fleet does not have a water test, and some crew members are doubtful of water
Mr. Chen (pseudonym), a senior customs officer who has been stationed in the fleet for many years, complained to "Hong Kong 01" that the customs does not set a "water test" when selecting crew members. He believes that swimming is a necessary survival skill for fleet members, but some official customs officers even The supervisor can't swim. Chen revealed that the customs crew is on duty for 24 hours. Although the ship is equipped with enough life jackets, they only need to wear them when working alongside the ship, such as passing the ship, dropping off the boat and pulling the rope. "You have a chance to fall into the water, even if you have a life jacket (all dangerous)." In an accident at the beginning of the year, the shallow-water patrol boat crashed and overturned when it was suspected of pursuing the smuggler. Chen pointed out that crew members have the opportunity to use speedboats for pursuit missions. If falling into the sea is very dangerous, "Knowing the many opportunities to swim in the water will not kill you!"
Zhang Zhaozhen, chairman of the Hong Kong Customs Staff Association, confirmed that the fleet has no water test, but said that during the training of the Customs Academy, there is survival training to teach trainees how to get to the surface after falling into the water.
The Hong Kong Customs Academy has no swimming training fleet and insufficient response training
Chen pointed out that although the Hong Kong Customs College has a swimming pool, it has not been trained in swimming. The customs’ regular safety and emergency response training includes diving exercises, abandonment exercises, and vessel capsizing exercises. However, Chen pointed out that after the accident, the Stonecutters Island fleet had conducted a vessel capsizing exercise. Remember when!"
"Stressless" training and assessment are added
After the accident, the customs officials held a supervisor-level meeting and the review was insufficient. Chen pointed out that the "Sea Safety and Practical Training" was added after the meeting. The crew needs to be trained and designated for evaluation. The evaluation includes swimming 200 meters, Snorkeling for 5 meters and so on, but the superiors said that the assessment "has no preconditions, and there is no pressure to do it." The Stonecutters Island fleet of more than 150 people has completed the training, but those who have not passed the assessment will remain in the post. "I will evaluate my own people, and I will prepare and direct and perform the training!" In addition, the customs recently also asked the crew to enroll in the Marine Department. Survival training, "jump into the sea, I won’t teach you how to swim."
The fleet is understaffed and the proportion of trainees is high, which is a worry about duty at sea
Chen believes that the customs fleet has been suffering from a long-term shortage of manpower and lack of access. One reason is that multiple ports have been put into service in recent years. Some experienced crew members have been transferred "ashore" and acted for other duties. The vacancies are filled by trainee customs officers. Customs trainees alternate departments every six months to nine months and must re-educate the ship's operations and safety issues.
Take the regional patrol fleet as an example. At present, there are about 13, 14 people on duty on a large patrol ship, including 1 senior inspector, 1 general customs officer, and 4 senior customs officers. The rest are composed of official customs officers and customs officers. In the past, more than half of the officials have been officially closed, and the ratio has reached 3:4 in recent years. There are a large number of trainee customs officers, but they are not familiar with the ship's operations, and they are a safety concern for themselves and the fleet. "Trained a crew member in 10 years, but was transferred to act as an agent. There are many potential hazards in shipbuilding, which cannot be detected in a moment."
He also pointed out that some senior customs officials have promised to reduce the proportion of trainee customs officers and arrange for experienced and well-versed people to join the fleet. After the tragedy at the beginning of the year, he also agreed to open a senior customs officer position, responsible for monitoring the sea conditions during the duty of regional patrol ships and high-speed interceptors, and reducing the risk of collision. However, an internal message issued on July 8 stated that "8 temporary senior customs officer positions will be created in the maritime assault and search team for a period of one year, and 8 customs officer positions will be deleted at the same time for offsetting." In fact, there is no increase. Official staffing.
A spokesperson for the customs said that the customs has always attached great importance to the safety of personnel on duty. All crew members must receive relevant rigorous training, basic sailor training courses and regular safety and emergency response training. The content of training courses will be updated and revised regularly as needed. The manpower deployment in the operation is the details of the operation of the internal department, so it is not appropriate to disclose it.
At about 9 pm on January 21 this year, the CE13 Customs shallow-water patrol boat carrying 5 customs officers was suspected of overturning due to collision during the anti-smuggling operation at Lung Kwu Tan, Tuen Mun. The marine police arrived and rescued 2 of the officers. The fire frogman rescued the other 3 officers from the "Foothouse" 20 minutes later. Unfortunately, 3 of them were sent to the hospital and died, including the 43-year-old female senior officer. Wu Yongmin, 39-year-old acting senior customs officer Li Zhiheng, and 26-year-old customs officer Huang Zhuobang.
At present, 5 of the local disciplinary forces have fleets, including the Police, Fire Services Department, Correctional Services Department, Immigration Department and Customs. Only the marine police conduct a "water test". After passing, they must receive a 5-week marine police competency certificate. Courses and other maritime training. The remaining four disciplinary forces have training in maritime, survival, or life-saving. Among them, all members of the Immigration Department's fleet are required to take swimming training courses. In the past five years, only Marine Police and Customs fleets have had accidents. Marine Police have 8 accidents and 12 police officers were injured; while Customs has 6 cases, 3 customs officers were killed and 5 injured.
Vessels of the Fire Services Department, Correctional Services Department and Immigration Department are all driven by Marine Department officers. The Marine Department’s Harbour Patrol Team, Pollution Control Team and Maritime Industry Safety Team are also required to patrol and enforce laws at sea. The main personnel do not need to have swimming skills. In the past five years, 11 minor injuries occurred in the Marine Department.
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