The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) is this month to begin buiilding the 4,000-tonne-class and 600-tonne-class patrol vessels that it has ordered ahead of planning, sources said on Friday.
The CGA in its annual report to the legislature last year said that the four patrol ships of the 4,000-tonne class that it has ordered are to cost NT$10.437 billion (US$338.73 million), while the 12 patrol boats of the 600-tonne class are to cost NT$12.823 billion.
The 4,000-tonne class patrol ships are a modified variant of the navy’s Tuo Chiang-class corvette, which would enable rapid refitting of coast guard ships for war, if necessary, it said.
Photo: Screen grab from CSBC Corp, Taiwan Web site
The coast guard’s 4,000-tonne class patrol ship has stripped down armament compared with the Tuo Chiang corvette prototype, but the patrol ship would have reserved internal space where weapons and equipment could be installed, it said.
For humanitarian missions, the ship’s sick bay would contain surgical suites and other medical facilities, bringing as much life-saving capability to sea as a field hospital, it said.
When responding to a medical crisis, the patrol ships could perform triage, critical care and rapid transportation to an onshore facility, providing seamless medical care onshore, from anchor or at sea, the coast guard said.
Weaopons systems designed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology for both tonnage classes have passed acceptance evaluation by the Fleet Branch, which is to present its findings for the coast guard’s approval, it said.
Other programs to build six ships of the 1,000-tonne class, 17 of the 100-tonne class, 52 of the 35-tonne class and 50 multirole coastal boats are all on track, it added.
With regard to the proposed vessels, the coast guard last year awarded a contractor the NT$4.675 billion deal for the 35-tonne class boats and the mold for the hulls — made by a manufacturer in Poland — passed inspections in Nzovember last year, it said.
The coast guard said it designed the shipbuilding programs with the input of experts and the defense industry to ensure the timely delivery of ships made to specification at the anticipated cost.
The procurement of patrol vessels would help the coast guard perform its mission, and stimulate the defense and technology sectors, it added.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
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The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
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