Twenty-two naval officers, including the commander of the Navy, have been disciplined over the grounding of a Kuang Hua No. 6 missile speedboat late last month, Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) said on Wednesday.
Answering questions at a meeting of the legislature’s Diplomacy and National Defense Committee, Chen said that in a report on the accident, the Ministry of National Defense concluded that human error was the direct cause of the boat’s grounding off the coast of Chiayi County while it was taking part in the Han Kuang No. 24 military exercises.
RESPONSIBILITY
The ministry penalized 22 naval officers it found to be responsible for the accident, Chen said.
The fast-attack missile boat ran aground on Sept. 25 in bad weather. The 14 crewmen on board were rescued shortly after the mishap.
In the following days, rescue workers from the Navy removed the four Hsiung Feng anti-ship missiles, the navigation system and other important equipment from on board the vessel.
On Oct. 10, a Navy salvage team used two giant cranes to pull the 150-tonne boat out of shallow water and towed it to Chiayi County’s Budai Harbor (布袋) for preliminary repairs before moving it to Kaohsiung Harbor for an overhaul.
UNDER THE SURFACE
Although the hull of the boat appeared to be in satisfactory condition, Navy frogmen who inspected the vessel below water said they had discovered five holes in the bottom.
The missile boat is a prototype designed by the Navy under its Kuang Hua No. 6 Missile Speedboat Plan to phase out 50-tonne Seagull-class missile boats. It is 34m long and 7.6m wide, with a top speed of 63kph.
Under the Kuang Hua No. 6 plan, 30 boats will be built at a cost of about NT$400 million (US$12.29 million) each.
The state-run Kaohsiung-based CSBC Corp Taiwan — the nation’s largest shipbuilder — began building the boats last November.
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
SIX SUBSIDIES: The monthly allowance for older farmers is to increase to NT$10,000, and NT$5,000 is to be given to homemakers under the national pension system, Lai said The government is to implement major welfare policies for disadvantaged groups, including raising the monthly allowance for older farmers to NT$10,000 and providing homemakers with NT$5,000 per month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks during a visit to Wangling Temple in Chiayi County, saying that the planned increases were being introduced amid economic growth and an increase in tax revenue. Touting a policy, in which the government plans to provide a monthly allowance of NT$5,000 for every child under the age of 18 in a bid to address Taiwan’s low birthrate, Lai said that if received for the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
ISOLATION: The outposts would serve as support and backup bases, forcing US forces to either face China head-on or reroute, increasing travel time and operational costs China’s outposts in the South China Sea could be used to delay and constrain foreign forces during a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, giving Beijing a critical window to carry out amphibious landing and blockade operations, a report said. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) forward operating bases on islands and reclaimed features in the South China Sea could delay foreign forces long enough for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to secure a key 48-to-72-hour window in the Taiwan Strait, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council found. The report, conducted by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, examined
RSS