The wife of the captain of an Yilan County-based fishing vessel that has been out of contact for nine days in waters near the Midway Atoll yesterday urged President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to ask the US to help rescue the ship’s crew.
Accompanied by her two sons, the woman, surnamed Lin (林), arrived at a fishers’ association in the county’s Suao Township (蘇澳) asking for Tsai’s help, saying that one word from the president held more weight than anything that they could say.
As of Saturday last week, there were faint signals transmitted over the Yong Yu Sing No. 18’s vessel monitoring system (VMS), Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Wang Cheng-fang (王正芳) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
However, the last signals received placed the vessel 606 nautical miles (1,122km) northeast of the Midway Atoll, Wang said, explaining the progress of the search-and-rescue efforts.
On Wednesday last week, the agency notified the ship’s owner that the vessel’s VMS was abnormal, but the owner was unable to reach the captain, surnamed Lee (李), Wang added.
The Taipei Rescue Coordination Center and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been brought in to request US assistance in locating the ship, he said.
Based on information passed on to the agency by the US Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) in Honolulu, Hawaii, the ship was discovered on Saturday adrift northeast of the Midway Atoll, Wang said, adding that the JRCC updated the ship’s position on Wednesday.
The agency coordinated with four nearby ships to visit the last known coordinates of the unresponsive ship, Wang said.
One ship, the Yi Jung 18, arrived at the coordinates late on Wednesday night, but had to move away due to bad weather and tall waves, he added.
“We are still coordinating with the US to help search for the ship, as it could have drifted away from its last known coordinates,” Wang said.
Aerial photographs taken by US aircraft showed no crew members on deck, but it is possible that the images were not taken when there was deck activity, he said.
All government agencies — including diplomatic, fisheries and rescue units — are doing their utmost to assist in search-and-rescue efforts, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said later yesterday, adding that the government would assist Lee’s family however it can.
Tsai has instructed Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) to call Lee’s family to express her concern to them, he added.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that the JRCC has over the past few days dispatched fixed-wing aircraft 18 times to help locate the ship.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Honolulu has asked the US Coast Guard to send ships to help with search-and-rescue efforts, the ministry said.
The JRCC said in a statement forwarded by TECO that it could not approach the vessel due to bad weather, but would not stop efforts, including trying to reach the ship.
The ministry said that it instructed TECO to keep close contact with its US peers and to assist Taiwanese groups with the search-and-rescue efforts.
Additional reporting by Yang Chun-hui
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned