"Okay."

Xiao Wu, the secretary to Director Tang, also participated in the accident investigation and immediately handed over a list of the investigation team members: "Leader Han, you decide on the division of work."

The list was very detailed, including names, genders, ages, units, positions, and specialties—everything necessary was there.

Han Xiangning quickly determined the division of labor among the five investigation teams based on the upcoming investigation tasks and the members' expertise.

...

While Han Xiangning and the first team were inspecting the ship's damage, Han Yu rushed to the Changhang Jiangcheng Branch and, led by Vice Director Yu of the branch, hurried to the dock non-stop.

After a brief exchange with the panic-stricken Vice Manager Zhang of the Hanwu Changjiang Passenger Transport Company, they boarded the passenger ship with an old captain sent by the Hanwu Changjiang Company.

The Changhang Police on duty on the ship did not stop them, and the policemen from the Jiangcheng Water Police Division couldn't say much either.

Han Yu, not bothering to greet his Water Police colleagues, took a flashlight from a crew member and first checked the damaged area, then climbed up to the three-story bridge to first speak with the captain, who was full of worry.

"Old Gu, Director Han is one of us; say whatever you need to say." The old captain from the company realized instantly that his words were inappropriate and quickly added, "Since the incident happened, you need to face it and be forthcoming with the investigation team as well."

"Understood."

The captain needs to be responsible for the entire ship.

It's normal to be scared stiff after an accident.

Han Yu took a deep breath, turned on the radar, checked its functionality, and quietly asked, "Captain Gu, tell me what happened."

The captain glanced up nervously and said, "Yesterday was the 111th voyage of our Jiang Han 21, set to sail from Jiangcheng to the East Sea, departing promptly at 4:30 p.m. from dock 6 of Jiangcheng Port."

Han Yu adjusted the settings and range, confirmed the radar was functioning normally, turned it off, and picked up the weather report records from the command station.

Seeing that the company boss had invited the police to first check the weather data, the captain panicked further and said miserably, "There was fog on the river at the time, with visibility of about five to six hundred meters."

"Could you see the Yangtze River Bridge when you turned to head downstream from the dock?" Han Yu asked directly about the key point.

The captain realized that the person in front of him was an expert.

Someone without knowledge wouldn't know that when a passenger liner docks, its bow is against the current, requiring a turn to head downstream.

He took several deep breaths and said tremblingly, "Couldn't see it clearly."

"Did you report to the Jiangcheng Traffic Control Center to request permission to cross the bridge?"

"Reported."

"Did the traffic control give permission?"

"Traffic control did not grant permission."

Although the passenger ship didn't hit the Yangtze River Bridge, and the accident didn't happen under the bridge, it would make a difference in determining responsibility; if you had listened to the traffic control and not crossed the bridge, the collision with the trial cargo ship wouldn't have occurred, indicating a causal relationship.

Han Yu couldn't believe this was real and after a long pause, asked, "Then what happened?"

"We are a passenger ship and can't always be late. I thought going slower would be fine, so we crossed the bridge first."

"Disobeyed traffic control and crossed the bridge in the fog."

"..."

The captain was at a loss for words.

Vice Manager Zhang and the old captain who came to deal with the accident were furious, wanting nothing more than to slap the captain.

Han Yu didn't expect such a situation right off the bat and sighed inwardly, looking at the waterway map, saying, "Continue."

"Oh," the captain mumbled with his head hung low, "At 5:20, the Chief Officer took my place. I don't know what happened afterwards, and then directly collided with the trial cargo ship."

How they called for help after the ship collision, how they organized the transfer of over 700 people on board the passenger liner, while important, wasn't Han Yu's primary focus for investigation, so he asked the captain to return to his cabin and requested a policeman from the Changhang Jiangcheng Branch to call the Chief Officer to the bridge.

The priority was to figure out what happened because Hanwu's superiors needed to understand the situation; everyone was waiting for news.

Han Yu didn't even ask for names, directly inquiring about the events.

"I... when I took over, the ship's position... was past the Wulong Temple river mark." The Chief Officer was shaking terribly, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

"What was the visibility at that time?"

"Around 500 meters."

Han Yu picked up the weather data again, startling the Chief Officer, who hurriedly said, "As we sailed, visibility worsened. Passing the Taiping River Mark, the surrounding bank shapes were unclear, and from the radar, we were 500 meters from the South Bank."

Han Yu set down the weather data and picked up the waterway map again: "How long did it take to navigate from the Wulong Temple River Mark to the Taiping River Mark?"

"Eight or nine minutes."

The collision occurred downstream of the Taiping River Mark.

Han Yu calculated the passenger ship's speed at that time while examining the waterway map, asking, "At what time did you pass the Daizi Island shore mark?"

"6:05."

"What was the heading?"

"Heading 055."

Han Yu opened his briefcase, took out the water condition data provided by the Changhang Jiangcheng Branch, and continued his inquiry: "What speed was being applied?"

Drops of sweat as large as soybeans appeared on the Chief Officer's forehead. After a moment of silence, he whispered like a mosquito, "Engine four."

With such thick fog on the river, visibility was so poor.

Not only did they ignore traffic control directives, but they also navigated quickly downstream through the fog.

Sailing in the fog is dangerous, and the captain should have been on duty at the command station, but he handed over to the Chief Officer.

The Chief Officer was also irresponsible; he knew visibility was poor and should have sailed slowly. However, based on his account and the water condition data at that time, the ship's speed reached 22 kilometers per hour!

Han Yu felt overwhelmed, thinking to himself that it was understandable that they felt the urgency to deliver passengers to the East Sea on time, but you can't sail like this.

Such actions could result in fatalities, and, ultimately, they did result in fatalities!