Marine and Fisheries

Cargo ship aground and leaking oil in Penghu Islands

oil spill in foreground, stranded ship in background
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Coast guard and environmental protection agency personnel are cleaning up and attempting to prevent spreading of an oil spill after a 499-ton cargo ship ran aground on Jibei Island in the Penghu archipelago. According to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration, the Cameroonian-flagged general cargo ship, Hai Shou, en route from the Port of Kaohsiung to Busan, Korea, lost power and began drifting on Saturday, December 16. Attempts were made to anchor the ship, but strong winds caused the ship to continue

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Freighter catches fire at Port of Kaohsiung: one crewman rescued from water

burning ship with water canon focused on flames
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The crew of a Cameroonian bulk carrier fled, and at least one man was forced to jump into the water, after a fire broke out on the ship while it was under repairs at a wharf in the Port of Kaohsiung, yesterday, September 13. Kaohsiung City Fire department received reports of a fire at the Jong Shyn Shipbuilding terminal at 3:54 pm. Video footage from the scene showed fierce flames and thick black smoke emanating from the cabin and rear

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Leatherback sea turtle dies after ingesting fishing line

stranded leatherback sea turtle
Animals Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Hengchun, Taiwan – A leatherback turtle found stranded on the coast of Pingtung County in southern Taiwan in July died of starvation due to fishing line stuck in its digestive tract, an autopsy revealed. Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council released autopsy results indicating that the cause of death was necrotizing enteritis, as the turtle’s stomach was empty, and its intestinal tract contained a total of 425 centimeters of fishing line. This obstruction led to folding and twisting in the lower digestive

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Oil spill from sunken freighter contaminates popular bathing beach in southern Taiwan

tourists affected by oil spill on beach
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , , ,

Beachgoers at Cijin Beach in Kaohsiung City yesterday were affected by an oil slick suspected to have come from a container ship that sank off the coast more than one month ago. Kaohsiung City Councilor Lina Chen was hosting an event promoting the wearing of lifejackets while beach bathing at around 3:00 pm when participants began reporting that they were affected by oil in the water and on the sand. Chen informed the Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau and the Maritime

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Tugboat sinks after collision with ferry in Matsu Islands harbor

tugboat sinking after collision with ferry
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Five people were rescued from a sinking boat after a tug collided with a ferry and sank in Fu’ao Harbor in the Matsu Islands this morning. According to reports, the tugboat No.13302 was helping the Taima Star ferry out of the harbor when the collision occurred at around 10:00 am. The tugboat began taking on water and tilted sideways before sinking around 13 minutes later. An oil slick formed immediately after the sinking and coast guard officers deployed oil booms

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Hundreds of empty containers create shipping hazard after ship sinks near Taiwan’s largest port

containers adrift after ship sinks
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

An estimated 600 shipping containers are adrift off Taiwan’s southern coast after a container ship sank near the Port of Kaohsiung yesterday, July 21. The Palau-registered ANGEL sank early Friday morning after the crew were evacuated from the ship as it began listing dangerously after a suspected breach of the hull Thursday. An estimated 500-600 of the more than 1,300 empty containers aboard the ship remained afloat after the vessel sank around 2.8 nautical miles from the south embankment of

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Container ship listing dangerously off the Port of Kaohsiung

Container ship ANGEL listing dangerously off the Port of Kaohsiung Taiwan
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The crew of a container ship abandoned the vessel and were rescued by the coast guard this morning after the ship began to take water and listed dangerously 2.8 nautical miles outside the Port of Kaohsiung. Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration (CGA) received reports that the 16,145-gross-ton Palauan-flagged vessel ANGEL was in distress at around 9:00 am. Nineteen crew abandoned ship and were picked up by coast guard patrol boats, including one injured. According to reports, 6 containers fell into

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Murder on the high seas: fishing boat crew 47 days at sea with alleged killer locked in hold

suspected held down during arrest
Marine and Fisheries Violent Crimes 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A man was arrested when a fishing boat docked in Kaohsiung, 47 days after he is suspected of stabbing a fellow crewman to death on the Taiwanese-flagged vessel while operating in the Indian Ocean. The Criminal Investigation Bureau revealed yesterday, Tuesday, June 20, that an investigation was launched after it was reported that a Vietnamese crew member on the Taiwanese fishing vessel Fengguo No. 616 had stabbed an Indonesian crew member to death during an argument while the ship was

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Rare “living fossil” goblin shark caught off Taiwan’s east coast purchased by museum

Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Fishermen operating out of Nanfang’ ao Fishing Port in Yilan County caught a rare deep-sea goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) yesterday, and it will be used as an educational exhibit after it was purchased by a museum. The 800-kilogram, 4.7-meter-long goblin shark was caught at a depth of 8oo meters in a bottom-trawl net, drawing criticism from some quarters. The fact that the shark carried six unborn babies in its womb made critics even angrier. According to the Fisheries Agency of

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Taiwan coast guard deploys elite unit for high-speed intercepts of Chinese speedboats

coast guard special task unit officers board fast-moving speedboat
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration has deployed a team of elite special forces equipped with high-speed assault boats to intercept Chinese poachers using speedboats to evade larger coast guard vessels around islands close to the coast of China. The Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch of the coast guard has dispatched the Special Task Unit to Dongyin Island, Taiwan’s northernmost territory, to combat an expected influx of Chinese poachers during the summer season. Fish poachers from the coast of China usually take advantage of

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First tuna of the season a record-breaker at 320kg

Su'ao No.1 tuna April 2023
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 3 Comments , , ,

The first tuna of the 2023 season at the Port of Su’ao weighed in at 320 kilograms, breaking an all time record for first catch of the year, and a 10-year seasonal record. The 267-centimeter long bluefin was caught by the Zai Fa No.68 near the Diaoyutai (Senkaku) Islands in waters covered by the Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement. The captain of the Zai Fa No.68 reported the catch at 8:00 am Tuesday, April 11, estimating its weight at 190 kilograms. However,

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