Many migrant fishers in Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港) were illegally made to stay on their fishing vessels on Thursday, despite the county government ordering that they be evacuated and provided shelter from Typhoon Krathon, a fishers’ association representative said.
Many Indonesian fishers in Donggang were ordered by their Taiwanese employers to stay onboard to guard their ships in case powerful winds brought by Krathon broke the mooring lines, which would cause them to drift out to sea, said Achmad Mudzakir, the head of FOSPI, the largest Indonesian fishers’ association in Taiwan.
These included crew members of distant-water fishing and coastal fishing boats, he added.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The Central Weather Administration issued a strong wind advisory for Pingtung on Thursday, with level 9 to 10 gusts recorded on the Hengchun Peninsula.
Muslimin, an Indonesian crew member on a coastal fishing vessel, said he and two other crew members were made to guard their ship from Wednesday until Thursday, despite the Kaohsiung City Government ordering all fishing vessels under 100 tonnes be evacuated on Tuesday.
Muslimin said his fishing vessel was in the “CT3” category, meaning it weighed between 20 and 50 tonnes.
The strong winds had been rocking his ship so violently that even the short trip to the onboard bathroom was “scary,” Muslimin said.
Commenting on the issue, the Fisheries Agency’s Fisheries Manpower Division head Hsueh Po-yuan (薛博元) said under the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法), local governments can issue evacuation orders for crew members in the event of a natural disaster, and once such an order has been given, shipowners must take their crews to a shelter.
Shipowners found to have disobeyed evacuation orders could be fined NT$50,000 to NT$250,000 (US$1,565.63 to US$7,828.16) by the local government, he said.
However, Pingtung County’s Marine and Fisheries Management Office official Hsieh Chun-yi (謝俊億) said he would have to consult with the Fisheries Agency to determine whether to fine shipowners who flouted the evacuation order, citing challenges in enforcing the rule that has left his agency in a “conundrum.”
Hsieh on Wednesday said they had allowed the migrant crew members to remain on the ships despite Krathon making landfall near Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District (小港) after the agency contacted the Taiwan Tuna Longline Association and other relevant fisheries associations in the area, who expressed grave concerns over mooring lines breaking.
“Migrant crew members and their Taiwanese shipowners were staying on the ships,” he added.
“The winds and rain are still very strong, and they are very worried,” Hsieh said. “If the lines break, the ships would float around and bump into other ships nearby, especially during typhoons when fishing ports are more crowded than usual.”
Hsieh said his agency acknowledged that crew members should be allowed to go on land and that they would consult with the Fisheries Agency and fisheries associations to explore the possibility of revising relevant rules to address this kind of “special circumstance.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as