The Maritime and Port Bureau yesterday said that it is to host several yachting-related events in Keelung’s Badouzi Port (八斗子) the weekend next week in accordance with the Executive Yuan’s “Salute to the Sea” policy.
This would be the seventh year the bureau has hosted events to promote yachting as a recreational activity, it said.
Yachting can become a tourist attraction in the nation, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-chung (祁文中) said.
Photo: Hsiao Yu-hsin, Taipei Times
“Through these events, people can know more about the ocean, lose their fear of the ocean and get to know marine recreational activities. Taiwan has what it takes to develop yachting, and there is great potential for growth,” Chi said.
Bureau statistics show that it issues about 2,000 new yachting licenses per year.
One of the events is to feature 200 new yachting license holders, the bureau said, adding that the bureau hopes to attract more people to the sport.
As buying and maintaining a yacht is expensive, few yachting license holders have the chance to regularly operate a sea vessel, the bureau said, adding that the event is to give new license holders the chance of getting practical experience.
Those who do not hold licenses can join a guided yacht tour, the bureau said.
This weekend would see a number of yachting events, bureau section chief Chan Chiang-chuan (詹家銓) said.
In a two-day tour featuring barbeques and karaoke, visitors would spend one night aboard the Longshan Glory, a high-end yacht, for NT$2,000 per person, it said, adding that it plans to operate four tours for a maximum of 40 people on each tour.
Some of the visitors could also experience being a yacht butler for a day, he said.
Another event would feature 40 yachts and sailboats simulataneous at sea, which would be the largest such event in northern Taiwan, Chang said.
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