The Coast Guard Administration plans to lease a second helicopter from a civil-aviation company this year to strengthen its search, rescue and surveillance capabilities, sources said.
The first leased helicopter, a commercial model with night-vision capabilities, has been very useful over the past year in executing dangerous rescue missions in rough seas.
It was also the first to take photos of a Chinese spy ship which intruded into Taiwan's waters off Orchid Island last fall.
The photos provided information to the military about what the spy ship might be capable of doing.
Administration director Wang Chun (王郡) said in a recent meeting with the press that besides helicopters, the administration also plans to lease fixed-wing aircraft.
Wang did not say what kind of aircraft or how many of them the administration wants to lease.
A lack of money and pilots will probably prevent the administration leasing any aircraft for at least a few weeks, however.
An official with the administration, who declined to be identified, said the administration is still studying what kind of aircraft would be most suitable.
"The study might last for some time, since we want to use the least possible money to get the greatest benefit," the official said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
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