The system cost the military more than NT$200 million to construct.
Before the coast guard was inaugurated at the beginning of last year, its predecessor the Coast Command under the military had planned to install a powerful monitoring system along the country's 1,500km shoreline called the "Poseidon Project."
The project was eventually cancelled because it was too expensive.
The coast guard does not seem to be interested in bringing back to life the Poseidon Project for the same reason.
Among the new directions of the coast guard, hardware seems to be over-emphasized, without equal attention being given to the software, that is the personnel.
Personnel has been one of the main causes of instability in the coast guard since its inauguration early last year.
The coast guard's personnel come from three main sources: the military, the marine police, and the customs authority.
Military personnel accounts for more than a half of the manpower of the coast guard, and includes career officers and conscripts.
Military career officers, who have chosen to put in for a transfer to the coast guard, have been a big problem because they have to pass the civil service exam to become formal coast guard officials.
The compulsory civil service exam and other factors have caused more than 200 former military officers to apply to return to the military.
It has been an ongoing program and there does not seem to a solution to it for the moment.
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