Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said that his ministry plans to roll out a 10-year development plan for a “Blue Highway” to boost domestic maritime transport businesses.
Lin made the announcement at the Maritime Festival in Taipei yesterday.
The shipping industry faces many challenges, including the US-China trade dispute and international oil price hikes, Lin said, adding that the nation’s maritime service operators still grow against all odds.
Lin said that four of the nation’s shipping firms are in the top 20 in the world.
Evergreen Maritime Corp, Yang Ming Maritime Transport Corp, Wang Hai Lines and T.S. Lines Co are ranked Nos. 7, 8, 12 and 20, respectively, he added.
The nation’s shipping capacity also reached a deadweight tonnage of 5,042 and is ranked No. 11 in the world, Lin said, adding that these extraordinary achievements are made possible thanks to shipping operators’ effort and contributions.
The ministry has listed the development of a “Blue Highway” as one of its important maritime policies, and plans to present its development plan by the end of this year, Lin said.
State-run Taiwan International Port Corp has been asked to facilitate the growth of domestic maritime services, not only in passenger transportation but also in around-the-nation freight transshipment, Lin said.
The company would also study the possibility of offering more incentives to shipping firms and assisting them with resolving the Labor Standards Act (勞基法) compliance issues, he said.
The Maritime and Port Bureau would ensure that the safety and efficiency of the maritime services by upgrading the maritime transport network portal and seafarers online platform, Lin said.
Lin also announced that the Executive Yuan has approved the ministry’s proposal to continue a program designed to boost and upgrade shipping industry until the end of this year.
It includes a series of measures ranging from reducing or waiving wharf docking and rental fees to giving shipping firms a grace period for paying back their loans.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS