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Government urged by family to keep looking for boat

Family members of the skipper of a Suao-based fishing boat missing since Nov. 10 urged the government yesterday not to call off a search for the crew of the boat.

Accompanied by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chin-teh (陳金德) at a news conference, the wife of Chih Yu-hsin (池玉信), the skipper of the Chin Hsieh Yi No. 166, called on governmental agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the Coast Guard Administration and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), to continue their efforts to locate Chih and eight crew members.

Chih's uncle, a veteran sailor, said the likelihood that the Chin Hsieh Yi No. 166 sank or collided with another vessel was extremely low as the boat was equipped with advanced radar, navigation and communications systems.

Chih's wife and uncle said they had not ruled out the possibility that Chih was abducted and even murdered by his crew -- made up of six Chinese and two Indonesians -- and that the crew sailed the vessel to China or Indonesia.

Also present at the news conference, Lin Chin-you, an inspector with the CGA Department of Coastal Control, said the Chin Hsieh Yi No. 166 departed Suao Port on Nov. 8 and last made radio contact with other Taiwanese fishing boats on Nov. 10.

Lin said that the CGA began its search on Nov. 12 immediately after being informed that the boat was missing.

He added that fishing gear belonging to the Chin Hsieh Yi No. 166 had been spotted some 48km south of Tiaoyutai Island and that Japan then dispatched aircraft and patrol boats for three days to help search in adjacent areas.

Nothing else belonging to the boat was discovered.

The coast guard will continue conducting a search for the Chin Hsieh Yi No. 166 and its crew, Lin said.
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