The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed a bill governing the establishment of a national oceanological science and technology center, allowing personnel recruitment and preliminary operations to start next year at the earliest.
The Council of Ocean Affairs-run center would develop and manage oceanographical capabilities, including a ship design laboratory, research vessels and other tasks, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
The planned center would be designated as an independent administrative agency under the Non-Departmental Public Body Act (行政法人法), Kuan said.
Photo: CNA
That would allow the center to recruit and retain a highly educated and trained workforce without being constrained by the laws governing hiring and pay grades in the civil service, she said.
The center would be looking for personnel trained in ship design, the operations and maintenance of scientific apparatus, and data collection and analysis, she said.
The center would manage the ship model test lab being built at Kaoshung’s Singda Harbor, the council said in a statement.
The test lab, an 80m long, 40m wide and 5.5m deep pool for simulating ocean conditions, would be the nation’s first-ever ship model testing basin, it said.
The facility would include two rotating arm systems, which are 60m wide and 5.5m deep cylindrical tanks designed for hydrodynamics testing, wave makers, ventilation systems, tow vehicles, high-performance computers and a hull model factory, it said.
The hardware in the facility is to be completed in 2027, with final calibrations and a test-run period to start thereafter, it said.
The council said it is to order heavy, medium and light research vessels, with a displacement of 4,000 tonnes, 300 tonnes and 100 tonnes respectively.
The heavy vessel would have a multibeam sonar, oceanic conductivity, temperature and depth sensor, fish finder, sea bottom and current profilers, remotely operated vehicles and other surveying tools, the council said.
The contract for the 4,000-tonne ship was awarded this year, with its delivery anticipated in 2029, it said.
The contracts for the 100-tonne and 300-tonne ships were awarded last year, with deliveries expected next year and acceptance tests to start in 2027, it said.
The center would improve the nation’s oceanographic data collection capabilities, promote marine science and build a multipurpose ship testing lab, the bill says.
The bill says it includes rules governing the nation’s oceanographic research, oceanographic survey equipment research and development, state-owned research vessels, marine science education and training, and international collaboration.
It also stipulates regulations over the investigation of culturally valuable underwater ruins and shipwrecks, and requests from third parties to conduct research.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS