The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) said yesterday that it is considering raising the percentage of passenger ships subject to random inspections by the seaport authority from 6 percent to 20 percent following the shipwreck of a South Korean ferry on Wednesday last week.
The potential policy change was proposed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee in Taipei yesterday, when the committee was scheduled to address the budget for the ministry for the fiscal year 2014.
Members of the committee were concerned what the government would do to prevent similar tragedies from happening in Taiwan.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said that the South Korean ferry Sewol capsized and sank within two hours suggested that there was something wrong with the structure of the ferry.
He said Taiwan has several large roll-on roll-off ships like Sewol, such as the Taima (台馬輪), Taihua (台華輪) and Hofu (合富輪) ferries and that these vessels have been in operation for an average of 25 years, making them older than the South Korean ferry.
Lee cited statistics from the Maritime and Ports Bureau, showing that the nation has about 2.5 million shipping service passengers per year.
Under the Ships Act (船舶法), the bureau is supposed to conduct an annual inspection and a special inspection once every five years.
The bureau can also launch random inspections at short notice. Though the nation’s seaports also provide services to 190,000 vessels per year, only about 6 percent of them are subject to random inspections by the bureau, Lee said.
In response, MOTC Minister Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) said the ministry would widen its random inspections of the large roll-on roll-off ships and make sure that shippers meet safety requirements.
“We have completed random inspections this month. They will be followed by emergency response drills, which are to be completed within one month. Then we will hold explanatory sessions informing the shipping firms about the inspection rules,” bureau director general Chi Wen-jong (祁文中) added.
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final