A Chinese vessel that was abandoned at sea on Tuesday has run aground off the shore of New Taipei City’s Yehliu Geopark (野柳公園), with one of its onboard cranes having fallen over due to strong winds from Typhoon Kong-rei, the Maritime Port Bureau said today.
There is no oil leak for the time being and the situation is being watched closely, the bureau said, adding that the ship’s remaining 247 tons of oil would be extracted tomorrow when the weather improves.
Photo: Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
It would be extremely risky to tow the vessel for now as it has already been stranded, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said.
The ministry is working with the Ocean Conservation Administration and the New Taipei City Government to prevent any oil leakage along the coast, he added.
The ship is close to Yehliu Fishing Harbor in New Taipei City's Wanli District (萬里), New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (候友宜) said, adding: “Let’s stay cautious.”
Due to concerns about a potential oil leak, the New Taipei City Government has set up an emergency response center with the central government and a command center in Wanli District, he added.
He also warned that if there is significant marine pollution, the ship owner would be fined NT$30 million (US$940,000) under the Marine Pollution Control Act (海洋污染防治法).
The China-registered cargo ship, Yu Zhou Qi Hang (鈺洲啟航), departed from Keelung at 7:57am on Tuesday for Zhangzhou in China’s Fujian Province, but stalled in rough conditions 2.4 nautical miles (4.4km) north-northwest of Cape Yehliu (野柳岬) in New Taipei City three hours later.
The ship’s crew of 17 was rescued by the Coast Guard Administration and taken to Keelung by 10:05pm that night.
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes
Taiwan yesterday issued warnings to four Chinese coast guard vessels that intruded into restricted waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The four China Coast Guard ships were detected approaching restricted waters south of Kinmen at around 2 pm yesterday, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu Branch said in a statement. The CGA said it immediately deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor the situation. When the Chinese ships with the hull numbers "14512," "14609," "14603" and "14602" separately entered the restricted waters off Fuhsing islet (復興嶼), Zhaishan (翟山), Sinhu (新湖) and Liaoluo (料羅) at 3 pm, the Taiwanese patrol
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
MUCH-NEEDED: After China demonstrated its capabilities to deploy vertical launching systems, Taiwan needs air defense systems such as NASAMS, a defense expert said The US’ approval of exports of three advanced air defense missile systems to Taiwan signified NATO’s goodwill toward the nation, a Taiwanese defense expert said. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Friday announced the US$1.16 billion sale of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) and the US$828 million sale of AN/TPS-77 and AN/TPS-78 radar turnkey systems. The NASAMS is a network that uses ground-launched Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) to intercept hostile aircraft, drones and cruise missiles. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), director of defense strategy and resources at the state-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said
RSS