The Panama-registered cargo ship Morning Sun was grounded 300m off the Taipei County coastline late on Monday evening, releasing more than 100 tonnes of heavy fuel oil into the sea.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said at a press conference yesterday that as there were no ecologically sensitive areas in the vicinity and that the situation was under control, adding that an emergency response unit had been formed and that most of the leak would be cleaned up within two weeks.
“The accident occurred at 10:20pm on Monday. Due to technical negligence, the bottom of the Morning Sun scraped the rocky seafloor and the ship was left stranded 300m off Taipei’s Shihmen Township (石門),” the administration’s marine pollution section chief Hsu Jen-tse (許仁澤) said.
PHOTO: CHEN CHING-MIN, TAIPEI TIMES
As the oil tank was close to the bottom of the ship, heavy fuel oil was released into the sea, Hsu said, adding that as of 4pm yesterday, about 100 tonnes of the 493 tonnes of heavy oil held in the Morning Sun had leaked out, polluting an area 3km long by 300m wide.
“The leak poses a threat, as it is close to the First Nuclear Power Plant, whose staff has been ordered to activate preventive safety measures,” Hsu said.
Heavy oil is a type of fuel oil made with the remains of crude oil after gasoline and distillate fuel oils are extracted. The viscous and dense liquid fuel is inexpensive, but contains relatively high amounts of pollutants, particularly sulfur, which forms sulfur dioxide upon combustion.
“Fortunately, because of the direction of the northeast seasonal winds, the waves have brought most of the leakage ashore. Otherwise, the heavy oil could have coagulated on the seafloor and it would have been difficult to clean up,” Hsu said.
The incident happened when the 14,000-tonne ship, which was northbound from Singapore to Busan Port in South Korea, pulled close to the Taiwanese coast to shield itself from winds on Monday night. As it was not carrying any load, the poor weather conditions caused it to wobble violently, Hsu said.
Although the Coast Guard Administration received an emergency call, it was unable to land a rescue helicopter on the vessel to rescue crew members until the winds subsided in the morning, Hsu said.
“As of now, 18 of the 21 crew members have been rescued, while the remaining three, who are familiar with the pipelines on the ship, will stay on board to help with the cleanup,” he said.
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
RSS