Environment

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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If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em: alien invaders incorporated into local cuisine

cooked snakehead
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , , ,

A restaurant in Nantou County is serving up a dish featuring giant snakehead fish caught in Sun Moon Lake, in the hope that creating a market will help reduce numbers of the ecologically destructive invasive species. Local angler Huang Hsiaosi made news headlines earlier this week when he caught 14 of the voracious predator fish in a 9-hour overnight fishing session on Sun Moon Lake using live carp as bait. Huang said that a total of 29 fish took the

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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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“When Worlds Collide: A Formosan Black Bear’s Deadly Dance with Civilization” wins Gold at Houston Film Fest

When Worlds Collide: A Formosan Black Bear's Deadly Dance with Civilization movie poster
Animals Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A documentary film about a Formosan black bear that was rescued from animal traps multiple times before finally being fatally shot by hunters won the Gold Award in the Documentary Feature Film category of the 56th Houston Film Festival, and is available to be watched for free on multiple platforms. The film documents the life of a bear dubbed 711/568 by wildlife researchers, beginning with the animal being rescued from a wire snare in the mountains of Taitung County, October

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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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74,000-ton container ship crashes into wharf at Port of Kaohsiung: Pilot suspected drunk

Hyundai Tokyo approaches wharf at Port of Kaohsiung before collision
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A 74,651-ton container ship was seen approaching a wharf pier bow-first at an angle of 90 degrees before colliding with the steel-reinforced concrete structure at the Port of Kaohsiung yesterday, Monday, March 20. According to the Maritime and Port Bureau, the Cyprus-flagged Hyundai Tokyo  (IMO: 9305673, MMSI 212347000) crashed into Pier 77 at 9:05 am, causing damage to the dock and quay wall. The port controller had noticed that the speed of the ship was too fast and sent a

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Taiwanese fishing boat found capsized in the Indian Ocean: crew of 16 missing

Sheng Feng No. 128
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A Taiwanese fishing boat reported missing February 23 has been found overturned in waters off Mauritius, but divers found no sign of crew, according to media reports Thursday, March 2. Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture Fisheries Agency received confirmation from Mauritian authorities that the Kaohsiung-registered Lien Sheng Fa was located 490 nautical miles northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius. Mauritian search and rescue personnel reached the vessel at 6:00 am yesterday, March 2, and divers conducted an underwater examination of the boat,

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Two life boats from sunken ship found, but no sign of 12 missing crew

lifeboat from Xing Shun No.1
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

An air and sea search for 12 missing Indonesian crew members continues today after two empty lifeboats from the sunken vessel were found yesterday with no signs of life on board. The crew of 17 Indonesian nationals from the cement carrier Xing Shun No.1 abandoned ship in heavy seas at around 3:00pm, October 31, as the stricken vessel began to list and water began to flood the hold. Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration dispatched the 100-ton patrol ship Hsinchu to

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12 crew missing after ship sinks in the Taiwan Strait

the cement carrier Xing Shun No. 1 adrift in heavy seas off Taiwan's southwest coast
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Five members of a ship’s crew were rescued, but 12 are missing, after a bulk carrier sank off Taiwan’s southwest coast last night, October 31. The 10,000 ton cement carrier Xing Shun No.1 first encountered problems on October 30 when three crew members were injured after a wave swept over the deck when the ship was located 50 nautical miles west of the Port of Kaohsiung. Taiwan’s National Airborne Service Corps dispatched a black hawk helicopter to airlift the three

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