The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) Chiayi-class CG 5002 Hsinchu (新竹) was anchoring in Honolulu in connection to an international fishery rules enforcement operation, CGA Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) told lawmakers yesterday.
Hsieh made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Huang Jen (黃仁) asked why the vessel was in Hawaiian waters.
MarineTraffic, an online ship tracker, showed that the Hsinchu departed the Port of Taipei almost two weeks ago and entered Honolulu Harbor on Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The vessel’s presence in a US harbor ahead of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises sparked media speculation about Taiwan possibly taking part in the exercises.
RIMPAC is the world’s largest naval exercise administered every two years by the US Indo-Pacific Command. The fleets of 29 nations are expected to attend this year’s drills, which would involve 43 ships and submarines, and 150 aircraft, the command said.
However, Hsieh said that the Hsinchu was engaged in a routine maritime fisheries enforcement patrol in the Pacific Ocean.
The CGA deployed the Hsinchu for the year’s first long-range patrol in the central and western Pacific for its superior capabilities over other ships in sustaining a voyage and providing medical care with an onboard hospital, he said.
The coast guard does not disclose operational details concerning its ships to the public, Hsieh said, declining to elaborate.
The CGA conducts two to three patrols in cooperation with the Council of Agriculture to ensure compliance with international treaties on fisheries on the high seas, it said later in a news release.
Patrol operations are limited to a designated area and ships make prearranged stops at foreign ports to replenish fuel, water and rations, the CGA said.
The CGA confirmed the Hsinchu’s itinerary as shown on the ship tracker, adding that Taiwanese ships received supplies in Hawaii during a previous voyage in 2011.
Taiwan’s participation in international operations demonstrated its commitment to being a responsible global actor and the safety of Taiwanese fishers, the CGA said.
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