Coast guard officials and Hualien prosecutors yesterday said they found evidence that the Panamanian freighter Tosa was the ship involved in a collision that capsized the Taiwanese fishing vessel Hsing Tong-chuan 86 on Friday.
Coast guard officials said they escorted the Panamanian freighter to Hualien for further investigation.
The freighter arrived at Hualien Harbor about 3pm yesterday and is now under investigation by Hualien prosecutors.
Hualien Coast Guard Deputy Chief Yang Chao-ching (楊朝卿) said they spent nearly a day in contact with the Tosa’s owners through diplomatic channels before escorting the freighter to Hualien for investigation.
Investigators said they discovered fishing gear believed to belong to the Taiwanese boat that must have become entangled with the ship during the collision.
Hsing Tong-chuan’s captain Ho Hsi-chuan (何西川) and chief engineer Hsu Chung-wen (許聰文) remained missing at press time yesterday.
Taiwanese and Japanese coast guard personnel continued their search for the missing men near the disputed Diaoyutai Islands, a fishery official said yesterday.
The 99-tonne boat, based in Suao, Ilan County, capsized 37km west of the Diaoyutai Islands early on Friday.
Eleven of the 13 crew manning the vessel were rescued by fishing boats operating nearby.
Officials from the Maritime Patrol Directorate General under the Coast Guard Administration said a Japanese diver combed the interior of the sunken ship on Friday evening but did not find the missing men.
Coast guard personnel from Taiwan and Japan will continue searching during the 72-hour “golden time” for rescue, the officials said.
At first, three ships were suspected of involvement in the incident and the Panamanian tanker initially refused to put into Hualien Harbor for investigation, continuing its voyage to Singapore escorted by a coast guard vessel.
The two other ships — the Fratzis Star of the Marshall Islands and the Hong Kong-registered CHS World — were also stopped, but were allowed to continue after radar data showed they were far from the collision site at the time.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said Japan had dispatched five speed boats, two helicospters and three divers to assist in the search and rescue mission, while four Taiwanese coast guard ships and helicopters from the National Airborne Service Corps were also mobilized.
The rescued Hsing Tong Chuan crew members include one Taiwanese fisherman, two Chinese, six Indonesians and two Filipinos.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS