A cruise liner hit an iceberg off Antarctica yesterday and other ships rushed to rescue more than 150 people who took to the freezing seas in lifeboats, officials said.
The 100 passengers and most of the 54 crew from the MS Explorer were picked up safely after the accident near the South Shetland islands, officials from international coastguard and navy services said.
The captain and another officer were still on board the Liberian- registered Explorer, but it was not immediately known if it was sinking, the officials said. But problems with the ship's safety record were immediately highlighted.
A British coastguard spokesman, Fred Caygill, said another cruise liner, the Endeavour had taken on some of the passengers.
"All persons are accounted for," he told Britain's Sky News TV.
Susan Hayes, vice president of marketing for Gap Adventures, which ran the tour, said the 2,400 tonne Explorer began taking in water after it struck ice. Although its pumps were managing the water, a decision was made to evacuate the passengers into life boats, she said.
A Chilean navy captain, Rodrigo Vattuone, told CNN TV a distress signal was raised at 12:54am. The ship was near King George Island, where Chile has its Teniente Marsh base.
The Chilean icebreaker Oscar Viel was on its way to the ship to help the rescue operation, he said.
The owners of a Norwegian vessel, the MS Nordnorge, said it had also taken on a large number of evacuees.
The specialist Lloyds List maritime publication said the Explorer had five "deficiencies" at its last inspection including problems with a watertight door.
The ship also had lifeboat maintenance problems and was missing search and rescue plans, a report on Lloyds' Web site said.
The watertight doors were described as "not as required" and fire safety measures were criticized, it said, citing an inspection done by Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency in May.
Chilean port inspectors also found six deficiencies during an inspection in March, it said.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS