Taiwan Strait

Taiwan air force to increase late night flight training to counter CCP aggression

F16V of Taiwan air force on night mission
Military Affairs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Taiwan’s air force apologized to the public as it announced that it would conduct late-night flight training to counter the increasing threat level posed by the Chinese military in Taiwan’s air and sea space. In a press release issued yesterday evening, March 5, Air Force Command said that it would comply with instructions from the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to increase nighttime combat skills and tactical execution experience for pilots of various types of aircraft to enhance preparedness and

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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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Taiwan flags Chinese civilian car carriers as threat to national security

roll-on/roll-off ship with ramp on dock
Military Affairs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , , ,

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense is cooperating with the National Coast Guard Administration and National Police Agency to jointly monitor the movements of Chinese commercial car carriers docking in Taiwan, and vehicle ferries operating in and around the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s top military intelligence unit, the National Security Bureau, reported to the Legislative Yuan May 23 on the potential risks of the roll-on/roll-off ships to Taiwan’s security, saying that the MND is cooperating with the coast guard and police to

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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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8 bodies washed up on Taiwan’s southwest coast in recent weeks suspected linked to people smuggling

offshore wind tower platform where body was found March 7
Breaking News 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A total of seven decomposing corpses found washed up on Taiwan’s southwest coast, and a partially mummified corpse found on an offshore wind tower base have all been identified as Vietnamese, and are suspected to be linked to a people smuggling operation. A partially mummified corpse was found by a contractor on a wind tower platform around 10 kilometers offshore from the Port of Taichung on March 7. Because the platform was more than 10 meters above the sea surface,

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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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Search underway for 1 missing after 4 crew fall from cargo ship in the Taiwan Strait

VIMC Sunrise berthed in port
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Taiwan’s coast guard and National Airborne Service Corps are conducting a sea and air search for a Vietnamese national who went missing after four crew members of a cargo ship fell into the sea off the coast of Yunlin County yesterday, October 17. The Central Taiwan Maritime Affair Center of the Maritime and Port Bureau said that it received notification from the National Coast Guard Administration at around 6:00 pm yesterday, Monday, that four crew members from the 31,236-ton Vietnamese

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Body found in harbor suspected to be crew of Korean tug missing in Taiwan Strait

police and coast guard personnel with body retrieved from Magong Harbor
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , , ,

A body found floating in Magong Harbor on Penghu Island is believed to be one of four Korean crew members who remain missing after a Korean-owned Sierra Leone-flagged vessel went missing, presumed to have sunk in the Taiwan Strait two days ago. Penghu County Fire Bureau received a report of a floating body at the south embankment of the Suogang Wharf in Magong Harbor at 11:50 am this morning, April 9. Police and coast guard personnel retrieved the body shortly

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2 bodies found after Korean tug goes missing in the Taiwan Strait

Unpowered ship section after push tug missing in the Taiwan Strait
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration personnel recovered two bodies this morning during a search for a Korean-owned pusher tug with six crew aboard that went missing after sending a distress call yesterday, April 8. The Sierra Leone-flagged tug Kyoto No. 1 was en route from the Port of Busan, Korea to Batam, Indonesia via the Taiwan Strait when the crew sent a distress signal from a position close to the Penghu Islands at 9:50 am, Thursday. Taiwan’s National Rescue Command

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US Navy destroyer transits the Taiwan Strait

composite image USS Ralph Johnson and Taiwan Strait
Military Affairs 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A US Navy guided-missile destroyer transited the Taiwan Strait today, February 26, and turned on its Automated Ship Identification System (AIS) – a clear signal that the US military wanted everybody to be aware of the ship’s presence in the key waterway. Chinese think tank South China Sea Probing Initiative was first to announce the transit in a Tweet this morning, noting that the “USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) is transiting the #TaiwanStrait, with an[sic] USN EP-3E providing ISR support from

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Belize-registered ship aground in Penghu Islands after drifting crewless for four days

composite image showing ship aground and map of location
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

A general cargo ship has run aground on a reef in the Penghu Islands, after the crew abandoned ship off the coast of northern Taiwan on December 24. The Belize-flagged, 499-gross tonnage general cargo ship HOMAO lost power due to flooding in its cabin and issued a distress signal at approximately 8 o’clock in the morning of the 24th, 52 nautical miles from Keelung. The crew of nine abandoned ship a short time later. On the evening of the 24th,

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