LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化學), which makes petrochemical products, yesterday said it had nothing to do with the explosions in Greater Kaohsiung, as its pipelines were still intact.
“The pipeline that caused the explosions has an 8-inch diameter and does not belong to LCY Chemical. LCY Chemical’s closest pipeline has a 4-inch diameter and is 10m away from the explosion site,” company spokesperson Abby Pan (潘俐霖) told a press conference in Taipei.
Pan said the company had accompanied Greater Kaohsiung’s fire bureau to investigate its pipelines after the explosions and found that its pipelines were intact.
Photo: CNA
However, the company and China General Terminal and Distribution Corp (華運倉儲), which provides warehousing and transportation of petrochemical raw materials, did encounter difficulties when they were transporting propene using underground pipelines on Thursday evening, Pan said.
The flow of propene unexpectedly stopped at 8:49pm on Thursday during transportation, and China General Terminal halted the transportation to inspect it, Pan said.
From 9:40pm to 10:10pm, China General Terminal tested the pressure in the pipelines, with results showing that the pressure was normal, Pan said.
The company resumed the transportation process at 10:10pm, but it was not successful, she said.
China General Terminal decided to stop the effort entirely at 11:35pm, while the explosion occurred at 11:57pm, Pan said.
Pan said the explosions were not likely to have been caused by propene, as city residents reported smelling possible gas leaks at 5pm, before the company had problems with its propene transportation.
Pan said LCY Chemical’s pipelines are maintained by state-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油), while King Mo Cathodic Protection Co (金茂) is responsible for protecting them against corrosion.
Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝), who is in charge of the Central Disaster Response Center, said earlier yesterday that a propene leak was likely the cause of the explosions.
Greater Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Wu Hong-mo (吳宏謀) said the city government found that the pressure of a 4-inch pipeline used for transporting propene to Ren Da Industrial Park (仁大工業區) was abnormally low between 8:40pm and 9:00pm on Thursday.
Wu said the pipeline belongs to either LCY Chemical, China Petrochemical Development Corp (中石化) — which makes caprolactam and acrylonitrile — or CPC.
China Petrochemical Development said the pressure of its propene pipelines was normal until 3:00am yesterday, while CPC denied that it was the company’s pipeline.
Shares of LCY Chemical and China Petrochemical Development slumped close to the 7 percent daily limit yesterday, closing at NT$23.25 and NT$11.40 respectively, underperforming the TAIEX, which was down 0.53 percent in Taipei trading.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from