Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Minister Wang Chung-yi (王崇儀) is currently aboard the nation’s largest patrol ship, CG-129 Kaohsiung, on a supposedly “secret mission” to visit an outpost on Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), part of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the South China Sea.
Wang, accompanied by coast guard and navy officials, boarded the 3,700-tonne cutter without fanfare or official announcement before it departed from its home port of Kaohsiung on Thursday.
However, information later leaked that the ship was traveling through the South China Sea, headed for Itu Aba.
The trip is the Kaohsiung’s first at sea, after it was formally commissioned into service on June 6, along with sister ship CG-128 Yilan, in a ceremony presided over by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). The CGA contracted Kaohsiung-based Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Group (中信造船) to build the two vessels in 2011 for a quoted NT$5.214 billion (US$167 million).
The Kaohsiung and Yilan are to bolster the CGA’s maritime patrol capabilities, officials said, carrying out search-and-rescue operations, as well as protecting Taiwanese fishing boats and combating illegal fishing by foreign vessels.
Wang arrived on Itu Aba yesterday and is scheduled to return to Kaohsiung Harbor tomorrow; a five-day round trip, which takes the nation’s other naval vessels more than a week to complete.
Wang was quoted as saying that his trip to Itu Aba was intended to boost morale for CGA personnel and scientific teams stationed on the island, as well as to deliver supplies and extra food for the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
He was also to inspect the construction progress of the island’s expanded port facility and runway, which are expected to be completed at the end of this year.
Other officials said Wang’s trip aboard the Kaohsiung was a way for the government to assert its sovereignty claim to Itu Aba, demonstrating Taiwan’s capability and resolve to defend the island from threats.
Itu Aba and its neighboring islets in the Spratly Islands lie in the South China Sea, with sovereignty over some or all of the islands disputed by Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
At their commissioning, Kaohsiung and Yilan participated in a major maritime exercise just outside of Kaohsiung that involved 21 vessels and patrol boats, as well as four helicopters from the National Airborne Service Corps under the Ministry of the Interior.
According to CGA data, the 119.4m long, 15.2m wide Kaohsiung is operated by a crew of 50, and is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 24 knots (44.5kph) with a range of 10,000 nautical miles (18,520km).
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