At 4:12 PM, Han Yu, along with Captain Xu, Director Yang, and others, took the Port Supervision Bureau’s Coaster bus to the pier.
The Armed Police from the Exit and Entry Border Inspection Station’s Supervision Team II had received the notice, but they still checked credentials one by one per regulations.
Just as Han Yu handed over his work ID to the duty officer, he caught sight of a young man who looked both familiar and somewhat unfamiliar, chatting with a foreign captain at the edge of the pier, and couldn’t help calling out, "Tang Wentai?"
The young man was taken aback and asked subconsciously, "You’re calling me—may I ask who you are...?"
"Old classmate, don’t you recognize me?"
"Ha ha ha ha, I thought you had forgotten about me."
Tang Wentai greeted the foreign captain and walked over with his briefcase, not hesitating to punch Han Yu, "You’ve grown so tall, I almost didn’t recognize you. I haven’t forgotten about you; it’s you who forgot me. You knew I was in Binjiang, got married and invited Dean Shao, Master Wu, and Fan Yihua, everyone except me. Do you not consider me a classmate, or were you worried I wouldn’t chip in for the gift money?"
There were only three classmates from the same class working in Binjiang.
Because they were all busy and didn’t manage to stay in touch or visit each other much, he actually forgot to invite an old classmate to the wedding, which truly seemed a bit inexcusable.
Feeling suddenly regretful for having greeted his old classmate, Han Yu said with an embarrassed face, "I failed to consider it thoroughly; I’ll make it up to you later, with a separate invitation."
"You’re just looking down on me."
"You work as a Ship Agency; you’re doing the best, with the highest salary—who else could I look down on but you? By the way, is the owner of this ship a client of your company?"
Tang Wentai, who truly "mixed at the docks," saw that so many from the Port Supervision Bureau had arrived at once, hurriedly left his old classmate Han Yu to greet Captain Xu, Director Yang, and others.
The cargo ship was being loaded, set to depart tonight.
Captain Xu had no time for idle chat. He patted Tang Wentai on the arm, "Xiao Tang, you arrived just in time. We are going to conduct a safety inspection on this ship. Come aboard with us and witness it. If we find any issues, you can contact the shipowner in a timely manner."
A Ship Agency acts as an intermediary.
They are trusted by someone to look after their affairs.
Since they accepted the shipowner’s agency fee, they must handle all affairs for the shipowner, including port entry and exit and cargo loading and unloading.
Tang Wentai had never seen Captain Xu so serious before and couldn’t help but ask, "Wasn’t it checked at port entry?"
Captain Xu said indifferently, "Having been checked does not mean it doesn’t need to be checked again. You can think of it as a pre-departure inspection."
Tang Wentai encountered this situation for the first time, turned to look at his old classmate, and pressed, "Captain Xu, Salted Fish isn’t a safety inspector for you guys at Port Supervision, so what is he doing here?"
"Salted Fish has been hired by our Port Supervision Bureau as a PSC inspection consultant. Hurry and communicate with the captain, asking for his cooperation."
"Alright, I’ll go and speak to him first."
Having already been inspected and having to be inspected again, the Port Supervision Bureau was acting oddly today. Moreover, they had called in Salted Fish, and Salted Fish had actually become a PSC inspection consultant for the Port Supervision Bureau...
Tang Wentai was thoroughly confused, but considering the customer’s cargo ship having difficulty leaving port on time, he dared not take it lightly and hurriedly went to communicate with the captain.
As soon as the captain understood the situation, he quickly came forward to express his welcome.
Port officers conducting an inspection had to be welcomed; otherwise, the consequences could be severe.
Accompanied by the captain, everyone climbed aboard using the gangway, heading straight to the captain’s quarters to check whether the ship’s certificates, documentation, charts, and Seaman’s Certificates were all complete and valid, as well as records including the oil record book, garbage record book, ballast water treatment, and captain’s night sailing instructions.
In fact, these administrative tasks were the captain’s main duties; compared to these, piloting the ship was only one of the many tasks of a captain, with the captain mainly giving orders and not needing to steer personally.
Various certificates and documents were piled up like a mountain.
Tang Wentai stood at the hatchway wondering about Salted Fish, who had changed professions and was now the Deputy Division Commander for Changhang Bureau’s Firefighting Division; how could he possibly understand these things? Suddenly, Han Yu looked up and asked, "Captain sir, are all the Seaman’s Certificates here?"
"Yes, fourteen crew members, fourteen sets of certificates, fully in compliance with the minimum crew requirements."
"Could you please have Mister Emilio come over?"
"Yes, just a moment, please."
Reluctantly but understanding that port inspectors were not to be offended, the captain quickly asked the Chief Officer waiting outside to call for him.
Han Yu scrutinized the Seaman’s Certificates in his hands, then picked up several other certificates to compare.
Without a comparison, one couldn’t be certain—after all, who knew if the authorities in the Philippines might issue certificates indiscriminately. After the comparison, he felt reassured and smiled as he handed several certificates to Captain Xu.
Captain Xu compared them again and nodded slightly.
The captain stood by, stunned, seemingly with something to say but hesitating.
Tang Wentai thought perhaps there was an issue with the Seaman’s Certificates when a dark-skinned crew member walked in, led by the Chief Officer.
"Is this your Certificate?"
"Yes, it’s mine. Is there a problem, sir?"
Han Yu looked up at the crew member and raised the certificate he had just received from Captain Xu, "When did you participate in seafarer training, and when did you receive the certificate?"
The crew member wasn’t nervous, blinked, and said in very non-standard English, "Trained in 1989, got the certificate in 1989."
"Which day and month of 1989?"
"Mister inspector, it’s been too long; I don’t remember."
"That’s okay, you don’t need to remember the exact date, but whether it was the first half or the latter half of the year, or approximately which month, ought to be something you remember. You know, receiving a Seaman’s Certificate is a day worth commemorating for a seafarer."