■ SHIPPING
Whirlpool behind sinking?
A Panama-registered ship may have sunk in a whirlpool last Tuesday, dragging down as many as 27 crew members within five minutes after the freighter was struck by a giant wave off the northern coast, the Coast Guard Administration said yesterday. The ship was carrying iron ore and an Indonesian crew of 28. One crew member was found alive, clinging to his life vest, on Wednesday. "A whirlpool effect is possible," a coast guard spokesman said after hearing the survivor's account. "Some of the sailors couldn't put on their lifejackets in time, so there are some who didn't make it up." Although the coast guard normally calls off searches within 72 hours, it has extended its hunt for the ship to a seventh day, using 12 boats and a helicopter.
■ WEATHER
Low temperatures forecast
Temperatures will fall today as the seasonal wind from the northeast gets stronger, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said a cold front is expected to arrive on Saturday. Forecaster Hsiao Chia-sen (蕭家森) said the weather in the north and northeastern regions started to become cool and humid yesterday. He said showers may occur in the north, northeast and the east of the nation. Temperatures are likely to rise tomorrow as the seasonal wind is likely to weaken, he said.
■ CROSS-STRAIT TIES
New Kinmen group planned
Civic activists on Kinmen will form an association to provide emergency disaster relief and first aid services across the Taiwan Strait, former Kinmen deputy commissioner Yen Ta-jen (顏達仁) said yesterday. He said the association was needed because of the growing amount of cross-strait boat travel between Kinmen and Xiamen in China. He said the group would provide assistance to people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Yen said the association would be established before the end of this month. Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李柱烽) supports the group, he said. An initial meeting of the association was heldon Sunday at the Hongbo Ceramics Factory, he said. "As direct shipping services between Kinmen and Fujian have become more popular, civic groups need to establish an emergency disaster relief and medical service," he said, adding that he believes the government will ease its policy on cross-strait travel. The number of people traveling between the two sides of the Strait was expected to increase to between 1 million and 2 million per year, Lee said. The new group would work with the Kinmen County Red Cross Organization and the Kinmen-Matsu Cross-Strait Interaction Association to provide emergency services, he said.
■ RESEARCH
Healthy hosiery invented
Industrial Technology Research Institute staffers have invented stockings that can repel mosquitos and socks that reduce the chance of developing a fungal infection, the institute said yesterday. "The stockings release an odor that repels mosquitos, but human beings cannot notice the smell. So women get fewer mosquito bites," a researcher said. The key was adding mosquito repellent during the dyeing process, he said. The institute has also invented socks which can reduce the chance of developing "Hong Kong foot." "We add an anti-bacterial agent into the material of the socks ... during the dyeing process. The agent restrains the growth of mildew and bacteria," he said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it