The ocean research vessel Legend is to have its specifications confirmed in March, the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) said yesterday, following media reports that the agency was unusually low-key about the vessel’s arrival in Taiwan.
The 2,629-tonne vessel, built by Singaporean shipbuilder Triyards Marine Services, began construction in January 2016 at the company’s shipyard in Vietnam.
Construction of the Legend was delayed after Triyards was in June last year entangled in the financial crisis of its holding company, Ezra Holdings Ltd, but it was eventually completed on Dec. 31, NARL said.
The ship on Jan. 18 sailed to Tainan’s Anping Port (安平港) under the protection of the Coast Guard Administration, the Marine and Port Bureau said on the day of its arrival, adding that it would obtain the vessel’s registry and other certificates.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily on Saturday reported that NARL was unusually quiet about the ship’s arrival and did not stage a customary welcoming ceremony.
The agency rushed to bring the new vessel to Taiwan, because it was worried that the company might use it as a pledged asset against its debt, the report said.
To prevent this from happening, NARL renegotiated their contract and requested that the vessel be examined in Taiwan instead of Vietnam, on the condition that “the confirmation standards are not altered and do not affect the rights of NARL,” it said.
After confirming that the vessel was built according to contracted requirements, NARL is to transfer the remaining 20 percent payment, about NT$170 million (US$5.84 million), to the shipbuilder, it said.
The agency is to stage the vessel’s christening in May if there are no other problems, NARL said, adding that the vessel is expected to embark on its first formal voyage in September.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and Technology has commissioned CSBC Corp Taiwan to build two 500-tonne and one 1,000-tonne ocean research vessels to replace Ocean Researcher I, Ocean Researcher II and Ocean Researcher III, with the two smaller ships expected to be completed in the middle of next year.
The three vessels are to be named New Ocean Researcher I, New Ocean Researcher II and New Ocean Researcher III, the ministry said on Wednesday last week.
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