Sea vessels that are insured by Ascent General Insurance and three other insurance firms would from Sunday next week be banned from entering international commercial seaports in Taiwan for failing to actively resolve shipwreck-related disputes, the Maritime and Port Bureau said on Monday last week.
The bureau contacted Ascent General Insurance, Edinburgharian PANDI Management Limited, Polaris Insurance Co and Arsenal Insurance Company multiple times regarding shipwrecks of their insured vessels, but they were passive and did not take any action, it said.
As the four sea vessel insurers failed to fulfill their responsibilities, the bureau would ban their insured ships from entering the nation’s international commercial seaports to safeguard national interests and protect the public safety of seaports, it said.
Photo copied by Lin Chia-tung, Taipei Times
The policy applies to ship owners who have been insured by or have renewed insurance policies with the four insurers, it said.
The bureau would ensure that ships enter the nation’s seaports with insurance policies issued by valid insurers, it said.
In addition to these four insurers, the bureau previously designated East of England P&I Association Ltd and Hydor AS as unwelcome maritime insurers on Dec. 29, 2021 and Nov. 10 last year, respectively.
In a recent session of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Jonathan Lin (林沛祥) called for a comprehensive overhaul in the nation’s ship insurance system, after the government was criticized for its handling of Chinese cargo ship Yu Zhou Qi Hang (鈺洲啟航), which was stranded off the nation’s northeast coast before Super Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on Oct. 31.
Damage caused by shipwrecks should be fully covered by shipowners’ protection and indemnity insurance, he said.
Having hull insurance is not enough, as it only covers third-party liability and does not cover the costs of removing stranded ships, Lin said.
Ship insurers must be certified as valid organizations by QBE Insurance Group Ltd or other similar organizations, he said.
The agency that oversees and inspects the safety of foreign ships in domestic ports should conduct inspections every quarter, he said, adding that foreign ships should be asked to address safety issues immediately or they should be refused entry to the port.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
RSS