Nelson Liu (劉寧生) has sailed around the world, but he's lucky if he can venture further than a few nautical miles in local waters.
This year, a Kaohsiung harbor official denied him permission to sail his 9m sailboat New Era (跨世紀號) to Penghu, on the grounds that it lacked individual lifeboats for each person. Last year, a port official refused permission for a voyage to Kenting. He told Liu that letting a foreign vessel go harbor hopping would humiliate Taiwan in the same way that China was humiliated when forced to open its ports after the Opium War.
"'Are you out of your mind?'" Liu, 58, recalls asking the official. "How did you come up with this idea?" Liu is Taiwanese but has to register the New Era as a recreational vessel in the US, because here it would be classified as a commercial boat. Although Taiwan is an island and builds more private yachts than any country except the US and Italy, people like Liu have to jump through a lot of hoops to own and operate a boat for private recreational purposes here.
There are perplexing rules dating from the martial law era and designed to prevent spies from sneaking in from China. Only two marinas exist — in Kenting and Longdong — for pleasure craft, and many sailors have to dock their sailboats at fishing wharves. And there are unsympathetic port administration bureaucrats who grew up when few Taiwanese could learn to swim, much less tie a stopper knot or put a tail block on the fall of a tackle.
"I am proud to say that we are world-famous for our yachts, but we have the strictest laws in the world today. We cannot have [yachts] in this country," said Jack Chen (陳朝南), chairman of the board of the Taiwan Yacht Industry Association. Chen, who is also CEO and general manager of Bluewater Yacht Builders, who was interviewed at his factory in Sanzhi (三芝鄉), where five fiberglass hulls were under construction for export to the US and Europe. "Actually, we can have (yachts), it's just very inconvenient and problematic."
Chen says that local manufacturers would initially sell 150 to 200 smaller yachts each year to Taiwanese customers if the government built more marinas and brought the relevant laws in line with international practices. He estimates that the increased production would create 800 to 900 manufacturing jobs, not to mention more work for people in related fields. His company used to manufacture 30 small yachts a year. Now it makes a dozen 15m or larger custom-built yachts each year, which sell for roughly NT$30 million or more. He has never sold a boat in Taiwan.
To build a yacht for a local customer, Chen would have to first submit the blueprints to the government. If the plans were approved, the government would send an inspector to check the boat several times during construction. This process is only required for commercial boats in other countries, and Taiwan does not inspect boats slated for export, Chen said.
Prospective buyers also have to take a course and pass an examination for a captain's license before they can take possession of a boat. And they need a berth for their ships before you can obtain this license, which is difficult because space is limited at Taiwan's two marinas.
To get around the red tape, some owners register their vessels as fishing boats instead of yachts. Others buy a fishing boat to secure a berth, then dock their yacht in the fishing harbor instead, even though Liu said this is "like parking your Mercedes next to a bunch of trucks." Once you've done all that, you still need permission from harbor officials to sail it. This is generally granted for voyages of a few nautical miles. But if you're planning a trip from one local harbor to another, you need permission from the port adminis-tration at both locations. And this is hard to get.
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