The management of a research vessel has been accused of flouting government regulations by letting the ship sail out to sea amid a COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan.
However, the management said the vessel had departed before the nationwide COVID-19 alert was raised to level 3.
The Chinese-language Apple Online yesterday reported that the crew of the R/V Legend (勵進), managed by the Kaohsiung-based Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI), insisted on setting sail even as the managements of three other research vessels had canceled voyages, leading to concerns that a cluster infection could break out onboard.
Photo: Yang Mien-jieh, Taipei Times
The vessel returned to Tainan’s Port of Anping (安平港) at about 1pm yesterday, TORI Director Wang Chau-chang (王兆璋) said, adding that all 33 crew members appeared healthy and were required to directly return home to conduct self-health management for a week.
Research vessels New Ocean Researcher 1, New Ocean Researcher 2 and New Ocean Researcher 3, operated by three universities, followed Ministry of Science and Technology guidelines issued on May 16 and canceled their voyages, Apple Online reported.
Asked for comment, Wang said that the COVID-19 warning in Tainan, where the R/V Legend was berthed, was at level 2 on the morning of Wednesday last week, when the vessel set sail.
The government raised the nationwide COVID-19 alert to level 3 in the afternoon.
On May 15, when the alert was raised to level 3 in New Taipei City and Taipei, the TORI adopted precautionary measures, such as canceling a plan to berth at the Port of Keelung (基隆港) and asking 10 people from the two cities not to join the voyage, Wang said.
The TORI maintained communications with the ministry throughout arrangements about the voyage, Wang said.
The R/V Legend surveyed the waters northeast of Taiwan, the ministry said in a statement.
Previously, the vessel embarked on a 21-day voyage to Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) and no one in the crew exhibited COVID-19 symptoms upon returning to Taiwan proper, Wang said.
Since last year, people aboard the vessel have been required to check their temperature every day, among other preventive measures, he added.
While the R/V Legend and the three other vessels are operated by different agencies, the ministry has established a platform to coordinate their regulations, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Lin Minn-tsong (林敏聰) said separately.
The Central Epidemic Command Center’s disease prevention guidelines are prioritized, Lin said, adding that the R/V Legend crew did not contravene any regulations.
The 2,629-tonne R/V Legend was inaugurated in 2018.
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