A traditional voyaging canoe from Palau arrived at Kaohsiung Port yesterday, where Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) held a ceremony to welcome the crew making an ambitious Pacific voyage guided entirely by traditional navigation.
The vessel, Alingano Maisu, set sail from Palau on Feb. 15 on what the council described as the largest voyage of its kind, a four-month journey covering about 6,200 nautical miles across the western Pacific.
The canoe is captained by master navigator Sesario Sewralur, who leads a 13-member crew from Palau, Taiwan, the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Photo: CNA
Speaking at the ceremony, Sewralur thanked Taiwan for its warm welcome.
Sewralur said a canoe crossing the ocean brings people together as one family. “One ocean, one family.”
Taiwan is the first stop for the Alingano Maisu, which will continue to Okinawa, Guam, Saipan, as well as Satawal and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia, before returning to Palau.
According to the OAC, the crew navigates without modern instruments, instead reading winds and ocean currents, observing stars and celestial patterns, and interpreting signs from marine life to determine their course.
OAC Deputy Minister Wu Hsin-hsiu (吳欣修) said the voyage demonstrates the depth and precision of Austronesian seafaring knowledge passed down through generations.
During their stay in Kaohsiung, the crew will host cultural exchanges and maritime education activities with Indigenous groups, sailing communities and academic institutions, the council said.
Earlier yesterday, the canoe was escorted toward Kaohsiung from waters near Dapeng Bay by sailboats from Taiwanese universities and sailing groups.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS