A seaman at the navy’s Zuoying Base Logistics and Supply Command Center in Greater Kaohsiung died after accidentally falling into the sea at 3:20am on Saturday while en route to assume sentry duty, Navy Headquarters told a press conference yesterday.
Local media said the seaman, surnamed Yao (姚), was walking to relieve the guard on duty and assume sentry duty when he fell into the sea.
Search and rescue operations were immediately launched and Yao was found 15 minutes later and rushed to the Navy General Hospital, where hospital staff did their best to resuscitate him.
Photo: CNA
Yao was declared dead at 7:38pm on Saturday.
Navy Headquarters expressed its regret over Yao’s death and said it had formed a task force to review the unit’s management and responsibility for the incident to prevent similar occurrences in future.
The case has been given to the Ministry of National Defense’s Southern Area Military Courts Prosecutors Bureau, Navy Headquarters said, adding that it would do its best to assist Yao’s family with funeral arrangements and would work with local prosecutors during the review and investigation.
In related news, a ship sent by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) recently carried out its first winter mission to Taiping Island (太平島) in the South China Sea amid severe weather conditions.
The cutter Wei Hsing left Kaohsiung Harbor on Dec. 9 with officials on board scheduled to attend the inauguration ceremony of a new solar power system on the largest of the Spratly Islands (南沙群島), which lie about 1,600km southwest of Kaohsiung.
The vessel arrived in Taiping two days later.
“Our trip unfortunately coincided with the northeastern monsoon, which brought extremely unfavorable weather. The ship rolled dramatically in the water,” said Chu Ching-ho, commander of the Fifth Coast Guard Group.
Based on a clinometer on board, the vessel tilted as much as 40 degrees because of the high waves, Chu said.
Built in 1992, the vessel is 82.29m long and 11.58m wide, with a displacement of 1,823 tonnes. It has a crew of 50.
The ship’s main mandate is to enforce the Blue Sea Project, which involves expelling illegal fishing boats from the waters around Taiping Island in March, June and September every year. This was the first time in 20 years that the vessel had traveled to the Spratly archipelago during the harsh December conditions.
The CGA began to execute the Blue Sea Project around Dongsha Island (東沙島) and the Spratly Islands in 2000 to help protect the area’s ecosystem from destructive fishing techniques, such as blast fishing, and its efforts seem to have paid off, South Coast Guard Bureau Director Chang Te-hao (張德浩) said.
“Green turtles could not be found around Dongsha in the past, but they were spotted there as recently as September,” Chang said. “The most important reason is that the sea has become a lot cleaner.”
Turning Taiping into a “low-carbon island” was an idea promoted by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in a South China Sea policy meeting in November 2010. The government’s intention is to cement Taiwan’s sovereignty in the area by focusing on scientific research and environmental protection.
China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei also claim sovereignty over all or part of the Spratly archipelago.
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