Continuing the dream of maps of Vietnam's seas and islands

In May 2023, professional military major Le Thi Minh Thuy made a working trip to Truong Sa archipelago. After 35 years, since the day her father, martyr Le Dinh Tho sacrificed his life while on duty to protect Truong Sa archipelago, she was able to fulfill her dream - to visit and burn incense for her father and his 63 comrades.

Amidst the vast waves of Truong Sa, she quietly told her father about her life, her current job and her dream of following in her father's footsteps in drawing nautical charts of the open sea, contributing to protecting the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

Professional military major Le Thi Minh Thuy on a working trip to Truong Sa in May 2023.

Professional military major Le Thi Minh Thuy said: "When I was able to go to Truong Sa, I had a really hard to describe feeling. This is something I have cherished for many years. When I was able to release a wreath with my brothers and sisters on the ship to commemorate my father and the 63 martyrs who sacrificed their lives on March 14, 1988, I really wanted to tell my father and the fallen uncles that, don't worry, my comrades and I will continue to fulfill your dreams and try even harder.

Minh Thuy's father, martyr Le Dinh Tho, was a cadre of the Surveying, Drawing, and Marine Research Group, and died when she was just 1 year old. A few months after her father's death, her mother also passed away. Thuy grew up in the love of her paternal and maternal families and the care of her uncles and aunts in her parents' unit. Graduated from the University of Mining and Geology, majoring in surveying and cartography, she worked at the Surveying, Drawing, and Marine Research Group, with the dream of following the path her father had taken.

During the business trip to Truong Sa, in addition to the meaningful visit to the place where her father was on duty, Ms. Minh Thuy directly observed the landing support piles, the embankments, the coral reefs, and witnessed the color of the sea water at different depths. These are extremely valuable practical documents for her and her colleagues' work in compiling nautical charts.

After 35 years, since the day her father, martyr Le Dinh Tho, sacrificed his life while on duty to protect Truong Sa archipelago, Ms. Thuy was able to visit and burn incense for her father.

The meticulousness, carefulness, passion and love for the profession have permeated her, in every drawing and assigned work. Thuy said, every time she receives data from departments in the unit, she always tries to collect, process, edit and present it in the most honest and accurate way, so that the nautical charts are always of the best quality, ensuring safety for seafarers. In the past year, she and her teammates have completed the design of a geographic database production system and established 196 pieces of 1:100,000 scale seabed topography maps; edited and updated hundreds of pieces of digital nautical charts to serve national defense missions.

Ms. Le Thi Minh Thuy excitedly shared about new technologies in the field of mapping: "The last year we edited 196 pieces of seabed topographic maps for the first time using the new software Arcgis. After the project was done, we were highly appreciated by the Chief. In addition to the nautical chart products edited on the software that we have been doing for a long time, we also expanded to editing on new software, most of which use English a lot. Access to new software has opened up many directions for us in the field of seabed mapping."

In addition to her in-depth professional knowledge, Ms. Thuy self-studied English, discovered and applied new software to serve map editing, such as Arcgis, Paperchat Composer... Ms. Thuy is also one of the pioneers in applying digital technology to the field of map editing, accessing advances in the world's cartography. In addition to working hours in the unit, in the evening she explores and learns new knowledge and research tools... Her love for maps of the sea and islands has given her strength and resilience in her work.

Major Le Thi Minh Thuy (sitting in the middle) with her teammates at the Marine Surveying and Charting and Marine Research Team, Naval Staff.

Major Nguyen Van Dung, Team Leader of the Map Editing Team, commented on Ms. Le Thi Minh Thuy: "As the team leader of the map editing team, comrade Thuy always completes her work well; the requirements and tasks of editing nautical charts assigned by the team commander, comrade Thuy has completed well, with quality. The work assigned to Thuy is always reassuring. Thuy is enthusiastic, willing to learn. In the field of cartography, it is quite broad; although young, Thuy is willing to learn and progress faster than others. As a young officer, Thuy is trusted by the unit leader, assigned to participate in many important projects, such as: national marine spatial planning project, project on seabed topography map serving the Ministry, Department of Cartography..."

Quietly behind the nautical charts to ensure the safety of each sea voyage of the forces, the efforts of Major Le Thi Minh Thuy in her work have been recognized with many certificates of merit from all levels, the Navy and the Ministry of National Defense for her outstanding achievements in her work, contributing to the cause of building the Army, strengthening national defense and protecting the Fatherland.

Source: https://vov.vn/chinh-tri/viet-tiep-giac-mo-ve-nhung-tam-ban-do-bien-dao-viet-nam-post1067414.vov