The nation’s fifth and largest ocean research vessel, Legend, was yesterday inaugurated at Kaohsiung’s Banana Pier (香蕉碼頭) by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The 2,629-tonne vessel has a top speed of 12 knots and can accommodate 19 crew members and 24 researchers for 30 days at sea, the ministry said.
The vessel is equipped with a remotely operated underwater vehicle and a giant piston coring system, among other equipment, it added.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
Legend is tasked with collecting information about oceanic geography, sampling marine sediment and exploring energy sources in the waters surrounding the nation, the ministry said.
The vessel is docked at Kaohsiung Wharf (高雄港) and is expected to embark on its first official mission in September, Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said.
The ministry has not yet decided on its first scientific project, but is seeking to collaborate with neighboring nations for research topics, Chen added.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
The ship has three female crew members, including its captain, Huang Chiu-hsing (黃久倖), 37, who graduated from National Taiwan Ocean University and has worked in the industry for a decade.
“It is a pleasure to serve as the nation’s first female captain of an ocean research vessel,” Huang said, adding that her most challenging task would be to familiarize herself with the ship’s twin azimuth thruster propulsion system.
Asked if it would be stressful to manage male crew members, Huang said it is not a problem for her.
The vessel was built by Triyards Marine Services, a Singaporean company, at its Vietnamese shipyard at a cost of NT$880 million (US$29.37 million at the current exchange rate). It arrived at Tainan’s Anping Port (安平港) on Jan. 18, although it was originally scheduled to arrive in October last year, Taiwan Oceanic Research Institute director Wang Chau-chang (王兆璋) said.
The delay was due to a financial crisis at the shipbuilder, which was exposed in June last year, he said.
The vessel’s ownership was transferred from the shipbuilder to the institute on March 31, and the administrative paperwork was finished on Friday last week, he said.
While most of the ship’s devices were purchased from foreign manufacturers, it has two ocean-bottom seismometers jointly developed by the institute and National Sun Yat-sen University’s Institute of Undersea Technology, Wang said.
The university’s institute, which is committed to developing underwater devices, is working to build a deep-diving crewed submersible in five years, its director, Chen Hsin-hung (陳信宏), said, but added that some technical difficulties still need to be overcome.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
RSS