The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is considering amendments to require vessels of all sizes to install automatic identification systems (AIS) in a bid to track ships near Taiwan’s shores as well as prevent Chinese incursions.
Under the Regulations for Small Ships Inspection and Measuring (小船檢查丈量規則) and the Regulations Governing the Management of Yachts (遊艇管理規則), small ships that are not used to ferry passengers are not required to install an AIS.
However, under the proposed amendment, all ships, except those on lakes, rivers and other inland waterways, would be required to install an AIS, ministry sources said this week.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
The amendments are primarily a response to an incident in June last year, when a Chinese man was arrested after navigating a boat into a harbor near the mouth of the Tamsui River (淡水河), they said.
The changes would also help the government combat smuggling and improve operational safety for port and harbor staff, and Coast Guard Administration personnel, they said.
Under the regulations, small ships are defined as motor-powered vessels under 20 tonnes, or non-motor-powered ships under 50 tonnes, and are further separated into passenger-carrying ships, and non-passenger-carrying ships.
Yachts relying primarily on wind for propulsion with auxiliary engines are not required to install an AIS, but can instead put in radar deflectors under current regulations, but once the amendments are passed, the vessels must install an AIS, the ministry said.
Putting an AIS on small boats and yachts would help the Maritime and Port Bureau track all ships in coastal areas near Taiwan, it said.
The nation has 1,543 yachts and 13,146 small ships, with about 13,690 ships expected to install AIS should the amendments pass, the ministry said.
Ships that fail to comply with the new regulations could face fines of NT$3,000 to NT$30,000 under the Shipping Act (船舶法), it said.
A Class B AIS costs about NT$20,000, Maritime and Port Bureau Deputy Director-General Liu Chih-hung (劉志鴻) said.
The bureau is working with the Fisheries Agency to draft subsidies that would alleviate the financial burden for ship owners to install the systems, he said.
Under proposed plans, the bureau would subsidize the refitting of 4,609 ships that are not used in the fishing industry, while the Ministry of Agriculture would subsidize 9,081 ships, he said.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS