The Tainan District Court yesterday sentenced a Chinese boat captain surnamed Wang (王) to three years in prison for severing an undersea cable to Penghu County in February.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) on Feb. 25 received a report from Chunghwa Telecom Co that said that Hong Tai 58 (宏泰) had severed its No. 3 cable.
Following the incident, Wang was held incommunicado and later indicted by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office.
Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The case was transferred to the Tainan District Court, which approved his continued detention.
Seven of the ship’s Chinese crew were also detained in February, but were deported and not indicted due to a lack of evidence.
Wang admitted to ordering the crew to drop anchor in a lapse of professional judgement, but denied any criminal wrongdoing.
The area has many signs indicating that it was a no-anchor zone and the cable’s position was marked on electronic charts used on the ship, the court said.
The anchor was not properly secured to the seabed, allowing the ship to drift in a zigzag pattern, completely severing the cable and cutting off communications, it said, adding that it cost Chunghwa Telecom NT$17 million (US$573,163) in repairs and NT$1.8 million in shipping agency fees.
The court said it found Wang’s actions intentional and that he had contravened Article 72 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法).
The ruling can still be appealed.
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