All crew members of a ship carrying oil that ran aground near Taitung County’s Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) were airlifted to safety yesterday as authorities investigated reports that oil might have spilled from the vessel.
The multinational crew of 19 was picked up by National Airborne Service Corps helicopters before being taken to Orchid Island off the southeastern coast between 11am and 2pm, the Lanyu Township Office said.
The sailors were examined by medical personnel at the island’s health center and were all healthy, it said.
Photo courtesy of Lai Cheng-hsien via CNA
However, Lanyu Township Office Secretary Chou Li-chu (周孋珠) said via video link that oil had been detected in waters around the island’s coast, prompting the office to request the county’s environmental protection bureau to tackle the apparent slick.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said they received a report at 4:28am from Keelung Radio that the Barbados-registered Blue Lagoon cargo ship had run aground about 18 nautical miles (33.3km) from Lanyu.
The ship ran aground amid rough conditions brought about by Typhoon Krathon while sailing from the Port of Caofeidian in China’s Hebei Province to Singapore, the CGA said, adding the skipper issued an order to abandon ship at 5:38am as water started flooding in.
At that time, the 43,498-tonne vessel was carrying 19 crew members — seven Ukrainians, nine Egyptians and three Russians — as well as 67,500 tonnes of iron ore and 227 tonnes of a type of fuel oil known as VLSFO, the CGA said.
The Blue Lagoon is not the only vessel to have run aground in Taiwanese waters over the past few months.
Tainan in particular remains on high alert since three foreign cargo ships — Dopphin, Keta and Sophia — remain grounded near the coast since July, when Taiwan was hit by Typhoon Gaemi.
According to the Tainan Environmental Protection Bureau, the dismantling of Keta is ongoing while work on Dopphin is about to begin.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS