Keelung prosecutors released two household registration office directors on bail yesterday after questioning them regarding alleged illegal accessing of personal data to support a recall campaign the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation into multiple cases of deceased people’s signatures appearing on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party city councilors They uncovered evidence that then-director of the Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔) illegally accessed the household registration system to assist with the recall campaigns was released on bail of NT$400,000 late Tuesday night after admitting guilt during questioning The Keelung District Court said he is restricted to his residence and barred from having contact with other suspects or witnesses in the case Prosecutors filed an appeal Wednesday night The High Court is expected to make a decision today Prosecutors yesterday questioned Chiang Chien-yu (江鑒育) director of the Jhongjheng District (中正) Household Registration Office director of the Anle District (安樂) Household Registration Office in an investigation regarding alleged illegal access to personal data Prosecutors copied the household registration system’s electronic records to determine who They found evidence in the records that a household registrar may have been instructed by Lin to access personal data Wu was also summoned for questioning and subsequently released on bail of NT$30,000 while Chiang and Lin were released on bail of NT$100,000 Chinese Nationalist Party Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) today said he would apologize after prosecutors conclude their investigation He said the city government and relevant authorities would cooperate with investigators Home » Training Squadron of ROC Navy Opens Warships to Public at Keelung Port the Training Squadron visited Kaohsiung Port on March 7 and 8 The squadron is scheduled to visit Su’ao Port on March 19 and 20 followed by Hualien Port on March 21 and 22 After completing these domestic port calls the squadron will embark on the international leg of the 2025 Midshipmen Cruise at the end of March and into early April The Midshipmen Cruising and Training Squadron (MCTS) has been an annual tradition of the Republic of China (ROC) Navy since 1967 It serves as a critical training opportunity for graduating officer cadets of the ROC Naval Academy providing them with practical experience at sea and contributing to the development of a solid foundation for the ROC Navy’s future leadership due to the ROC’s challenging diplomatic circumstances the selection of foreign ports for MCTS visits has been significantly restricted the squadron has been limited to visiting the ROC’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific Islands The Republic of China (ROC) Navy typically does not disclose the specific foreign ports that the Midshipmen Cruising and Training Squadron (MCTS) will visit in advance it is generally expected that the squadron will call on the ROC’s diplomatic allies in the Pacific Islands the Training Squadron has visited Palau and the Marshall Islands including during its 2023 and 2024 deployments The 2025 Midshipmen Cruising and Training Squadron consists of three warships: Wu Chang (PFG-1207, 武昌), a Kang Ding-class frigate based on the French La Fayette-class design; Cheng Ho (PFG-1103 a Cheng Kung-class frigate derived from the U.S Oliver Hazard Perry-class; and Panshih (AOE-532 Select areas of the three vessels—such as the fore and aft decks offering visitors an opportunity to view the ships’ weapon systems and other onboard equipment up close an S-70C anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter was showcased on the flight deck of the Cheng Kung-class frigate providing further insight into the ROC Navy’s capabilities An exhibition highlighting the core missions of the Republic of China (ROC) Navy was held in the exhibition area aboard Panshih The display showcased the Navy’s recent achievements in force development including the construction of indigenous warships and the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Taiwan’s achievements in other fields were also featured in the exhibition including the national baseball team’s victory at the 2024 WBSC Premier12 Championship and the country’s leadership in the semiconductor industry the exhibition highlighted the “Five Trusted Industry Sectors” (五大信賴產業) promotion plan introduced by the Lai Ching-te administration The five sectors identified as strategic priorities are semiconductors There was also a brief introduction of Taiwan’s naval academy a Japanese comic book and animation series about the adventures of pirates and Marine Corps martial arts demonstration team performed shows The Northern Taiwan recruiting office of Navy Headquarters ROC armed forces Northern Taiwan recruiting office the northern branch of  the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) showcased their uniforms equipments and provided games and quizzes for the visitors to collect stamps then get free souvenirs after completing the games and quizzes Naval News brings you news coverage of the latest naval defense shows & events We are also reporting on naval technology from all over the world Lloyd's List is part of Maritime Intelligence This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited registered in England and Wales with company number 13831625 and address c/o Hackwood Secretaries Limited Lloyd’s List Intelligence is a trading name of Maritime Insights & Intelligence Limited Lloyd’s is the registered trademark of the Society Incorporated by the Lloyd’s Act 1871 by the name of Lloyd’s For high-quality copies or electronic reprints for distribution to colleagues or customers please call UK support at +44 (0)20 3377 3996 / APAC support at +65 6508 2430 Port clean-up efforts underway after a containership spills 100 litres of heavy fuel oil A CONTAINERSHIP docked at Keelung port has spilled oil during its refuelling The Port of Keelung Taiwan International Ports Corporation said it received an alert to a suspected oil spill from the 1,675 teu Kanway Global (IMO: 9167461) whose hulls and mooring lines were also tainted The accident has raised concerns about port environmental management and operational safety According to the local environmental protection bureau approximately 100 litres of heavy oil leaked into the harbour during a fuel barge connection procedure containment booms and oil-absorbent materials have been deployed to mitigate environmental and operational disruption The three pilot boats will require drydocking for maintenance while other affected vessels have postponed departures until the clean-up is completed Keelung port and Kanway Line Your username does not meet the requirements Sorry - public email accounts are not allowed An account with that username already exists Unfortunately we've not been able to process your registration Your question has been successfully sent to the email address below and we will get back as soon as possible This article has been sent to my@email.address The spill occurred on March 16 while the regional containership Kanway Global was docked and refueling the 24,500 dwt vessel arrived from another port in Taiwan and was refueling when the spill happened around 2200 local time on Sunday night the vessel is registered in Taiwan and has a capacity of 1,675 TEU Port officials said that booms were strung to contain the spill Reports indicated that it was an overflow from the barge connection The local environmental agency said as much as 100 liters of fuel spilled in the area of the container terminal and fouled multiple berths.  Pictures showed crews out on Monday applying absorbent materials and mopping up the oil they were power-washing the hulls of multiple vessels that were coated in oil The Taiwan International Ports Corporation which operates the port confirmed that departures were being delayed and that operations at the port were impacted were in the impacted area as well as Yang Ming’s feeder YM Immense Keelung is also a popular cruise port and the cruise ship Norwegian Sky was impacted by the spill The Kanway Global and the TS Surabaya remain in the port as of late on Tuesday The cruise ship Norwegian Sky departed and was underway to Hong Kong while the TS Pusan had also been cleaned and permitted to depart Three pilot boats were also impacted by the oil Reports said they would need to be dry docked to for cleaning Port officials said they were targeting completing the cleanup on Tuesday They expected normal operations to resume in the port Kanway Lines was reportedly being fined approximately US$10,000 for the incident.  Top photo of Keelung port in 2024 by Heeheemalu - CC BY-SA 4.0 April 30 (CNA) The Taiwan Keelung District Court has ordered the director of the Keelung Civil Affairs Department to be released on NT$400,000 (US$12,436) bail in connection with alleged legal offenses in a local campaign to recall two city councilors The court announced the decision at 11:53 p.m It said Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔) was strongly suspected of accessing the household registration system to verify or obtain personal data in order to assist with the recall petition targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Tiun (張之豪) Chang "admitted" to personal data protection offenses and document forgery and it decided to deny a request by prosecutors to detain him and instead order him released on bail after taking into account Chang's confession The court also ordered that Chang reside at a designated location and that the location could not be changed without permission The court action came after prosecutors requested the detention of Chang; Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃) who heads the recall petition campaign against Cheng; and Chang Chin-fa (張金發) the director of the opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) Ren'ai District chapter in Keelung Both Chi and Chang Chin-fa were ordered to be detained and held incommunicado The court found that although the two individuals denied all allegations a review of the evidence indicated there was reason to strongly suspect that they had violated the Personal Data Protection Act and committed documentary forgery With several suspects still yet to be summoned for questioning it is likely Chi and Chang Chin-fa could collude with each other and destroy uncovered evidence The court rulings came after the prosecutors in charge of an investigation into the use of alleged fraudulent signatures on the recall petitions against DPP city councilors raided six locations in Keelung on Monday They searched the KMT Keelung Chapter and the residences of recall organizers targeting Cheng and Tiun before bringing in 10 individuals for questioning as either suspects or witnesses three others had been released on varying bail amounts The raids mirrored other actions by prosecutors around Taiwan in recent weeks mostly targeted at opposition KMT offices to crack down on alleged signature fraud in campaigns to recall DPP lawmakers or local government officials prosecutors had raided KMT chapters in several areas The investigations have resulted in the detention of several KMT chapter officials including KMT Taipei chapter Chair Huang Lu Chin‑ju (黃呂錦茹) The China-registered barge Yu Zhou Qi Hang, which knocked down a quay crane at Keelung Port in Taiwan two weeks ago lost its ability to navigate due to severe weather and heavy load and was abandoned as a result eventually washing up on Taiwan’s shoreline yesterday The ship left Keelung at 7:57 am local time on Tuesday for Zhangzhou in China’s Fujian province It stalled some 4.5 km off northern Taiwan three hours later The captain gave out an order to abandon the ship later in the day as the wind and rain intensified Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration was able to rescue all 17 crew members from the vessel A 100-tonne patrol boat returned the crew safely to Keelung Port around 10:05 pm local time on Tuesday the ship was carrying three gantry cranes and was hit by strong winds coming from the outer rim of the approaching Typhoon Kong-rey It was unable to leave the area and gradually drifted closer to the shore near Yehliu The vessel ran aground along the shore of New Taipei City’s Yehliu Geopark on Thursday Tugboats were dispatched to the scene but they had to turn back due to rough sea conditions work would start on syphoning off fuel from the vessel The barge is filled with 37 tonnes of diesel there is only a limited risk of an oil leak but an emergency relief team is standing by in case of fuel leaks This has been a very poor run of luck for the vessel in a very short period of time It accidentally knocked down an existing quay crane at Keelung Port in Taiwan while docking to unload new cranes from China’s ZPMC one of the new cranes onboard the vessel toppled over the old one crushing several containers on the quayside in the process there were no casualties or injuries reported I agree that many flags do conduct inspections and that ther.. They should be bright yellow so they are visible in the ocea.. Don't have an account? A container gantry crane has collapsed at Keelung Port during the delivery of new cranes for China Container Terminal Corporation Taiwan News reported that the collapse happened on 14 October around 2:00 p.m when the Yuzhou Qi Hang barge carrier collided with an existing crane onshore at Pier 20 while transporting the newly purchased crane The impact caused the onshore crane to fall ET Today noted that an investigation is underway to understand the circumstances of the accident READ: Konecranes secures hybrid RTGs order from Taiwan Terminal explained that the barge was carrying the new gantry crane to replace an older one adding that the cause of the collision remains unclear officials will assess the damage to establish liability and discussions on compensation will take place between China Container Terminal Corporation and the freight company involved The cost of a new gantry crane is estimated to be around NT$300 million ($9.3 million) The collapse has reportedly caused disruptions to shipping operations at Pier 20 and the neighbouring Pier 21 where space had been allocated for the crane from 14 to 18 October The Keelung Port Branch of the International Ports Corporation has confirmed that steps are being taken to resolve the situation and reduce further disruption to port operations Join the Maritime Safety Series: Port Edition a new virtual event from Port Technology International and ICHCA focused on improving port safety through discussion and innovation Kalmar has completed a repair project for a ship-to-shore (STS) crane leg at the Nhava The Port of Rotterdam Authority has introduced Carbonbid a sustainability initiative that allows companies to Arkas Line has added a second company-owned vessel to the USA Express Service (USX) Moller—Maersk (Maersk) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) Chittagong the first privately-owned container terminal in Bangladesh DP World is set to implement OneStop Modal and the OneStop Vehicle Booking System (VBS) Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔) yesterday resigned from his post after being released on bail late on Tuesday for allegedly using public household registration rolls to aid a recall effort against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Keelung City Government spokesman Lu Ching-wei (呂謦煒) yesterday said that Chang had submitted his resignation and it had been approved by Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) the Keelung District Court released Chang on NT$400,000 bail Chang is suspected of accessing the household registration system to verify or obtain personal data to assist with the recall petition targeting DPP city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪) Chang “admitted” to personal data protection offenses and document forgery adding that it denied a request by prosecutors to detain him after taking into account Chang’s confession The court said that it was unnecessary to detain Chang as he had admitted guilt during questioning despite there being concerns of collusion and tampering with witnesses he is restricted to his residence and is barred from having contact with other suspects or witnesses in the case Two other suspects — recall campaign leader Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Renai District (仁愛) committee director Chang Chin-fa (張金發) — were detained incommunicado The court ordered that Chi and Chang Chin-fa be detained as they are accused of the “serious crimes” of illegally using personal data in contravention of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) and forging private documents Prosecutors also found chat group messages in which Chi removed the original members and advised people to leave the group after a member shared a news article about the KMT headquarters in Tainan being searched in relation to another recall petition forgery investigation The court rulings came after the prosecutors in charge of an investigation into the use of alleged fraudulent signatures in the recall petitions against DPP city councilors raided six locations in Keelung on Monday The raids mirrored other actions by prosecutors across Taiwan over the past few weeks mostly targeting KMT offices to crack down on alleged signature fraud in campaigns to recall DPP lawmakers or local government officials This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page The Keelung District Court late last night granted bail for a city government official accused of using public household registration rolls to aid a recall effort against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors the court released Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔) on bail of NT$400,000 Two other suspects in the case — recall campaign leader Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃) and Renai District (仁愛) Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) committee director Chang Chin-fa (張金發) — were ordered held incommunicado The court said that it was unnecessary to detain Chang as he had admitted guilt during questioning Chang is suspected of accessing the household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting DPP city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪) The court ordered Chi and Chang Chin-fa detained Prosecutors also found conversation records from a chat group in which Chi removed the original members and advised people to leave the group after a member shared a news article about the KMT headquarters in Tainan being searched in relation to another recall petition forgery investigation The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday requested that a court detain three people including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔) in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns Chang is suspected of accessing the household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪) Prosecutors on Monday directed investigators to search six locations including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders The recall campaign leaders — Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃) Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh (許紹業) — were summoned as suspects in relation to the forgery investigation Prosecutors also questioned Renai District (仁愛) KMT committee director Chang Chin-fa (張金發) first division secretary Hsiao Chuang-feng (蕭壯峰) and party office secretary-general Lee Ming-yi (李銘議) but Wu and Chang Chin-fa were reclassified as suspects and taken to the prosecutors’ office for more questioning Chang Yuan-hsiang was then summoned by prosecutors who said they suspect he used his access to the household registration system to assist the recall campaign in finding personal information Prosecutors requested that the Keelung District Court detain Chang Yuan-hsiang Chi and Chang Chin-fa on suspicion of contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) NT$150,000 and NT$30,000 bail respectively the district court ordered that KMT New Taipei City branch secretary-general Chen Chen-jung (陳貞容) be detained and held incommunicado after being questioned for more than two hours the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday Authorities on Monday raided the party’s New Taipei City office and the residences of three people in connection with investigations into the use of forged signatures in recall campaigns against DPP lawmakers KMT Banciao office secretary Chu Pei-yi (朱蓓儀) KMT Sanchong District (三重) office executive director Lo Ta-yu (羅大宇) and Banciao party secretary Tsai Kan-tzu (蔡甘子) were released after questioning The searches on Monday included the KMT’s New Taipei City branch and followed earlier raids on April 15 targeting 30 locations including the KMT’s Banciao and Sanchong branches KMT New Taipei City branch chairman Huang Chih-hsiung (黃志雄) criticized Chen’s detention as politically motivated and said the party would definitely file an appeal Huang said it was “incomprehensible” that prosecutors would initiate a second round of searches and questioning without presenting new evidence He also said that the court’s approval of the detention order after a “short one hour” hearing raised further concerns about the fairness of the proceedings Additional reporting by Lin Chia-tung and Wu Sheng-ju a cruise ship operated by Star Cruises (麗星郵輪) embarked on a new voyage from Keelung yesterday Deputy Keelung Mayor Chiu Pei-lin (邱佩琳) was invited aboard the ship to meet with cruise operators and tourism industry representatives promoting Keelung as a key home port for domestic cruises Photo courtesy of the Keelung City Government Describing it as “an old friend with a new name,” she said the cruise liner is ready to form deeper ties with Keelung The Star Navigator would be a vital partner in promoting cruise tourism not only for Keelung adding that the cruise’s procurement of large quantities of local produce and seafood would further boost the city’s agricultural and fisheries sectors The Port of Keelung offers unique geographical advantages with convenient railway and highway connections to Taipei making it easy for international travelers to land at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and reach Keelung via public transportation to board cruises Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) said the harbor is a key hub for cruise routes in Asia The city government plans to continue working with Taiwan International Ports Corp (台灣港務) to promote Keelung’s cultural tourism introduce port rate discounts and organize familiarization trips to attract more international cruise lines to call at Keelung The city is also considering organizing large-scale events to coincide with cruise ship arrivals inviting passengers to take part and help elevate the events’ international appeal Deputy city government spokesman Tseng Kuan-cheng (曾冠誠) said that Keelung has renovated the East District Visitor Center West Passenger Terminal and several pier facilities The upgrades have significantly enhanced the capacity and quality of cruise services at the port The number of international cruise passengers at the Port of Keelung last year surpassed that of 2019 demonstrating strong growth potential in the post-COVID-19 pandemic cruise market Taiwan International Ports Co said that Star Navigator would be home ported in Keelung from Friday last week through Nov Up to 325,000 international cruise passengers are expeted to arrive this year — surpassing last year’s record of 266,000 Taiwan International Ports president Wang Chin-jung (王錦榮) said 557 cruise voyages are expected at Taiwan’s ports this year bringing in as many as 1 million passengers with the Star Navigator projected to account for about 30 percent of the total Wang added that he hopes Star Cruises — Asia’s largest cruise operator — would deploy more vessels to ports around Taiwan southern and eastern regions easier access to cruise experiences The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the issue adding that it has forwarded all evidence and statements to prosecutors Kuma Academy chief executive officer Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) said yesterday that while the incident was pending investigation China has a long history of sabotaging Taiwanese infrastructure using maritime tactics Ho said that the incident was a Chinese ploy to gauge the point at which the international community would draw a red line in an attempt to escalate its “gray zone” tactics Ho said such tactics were one reason Taiwan is working to launch its own low and medium Earth orbit satellites and increase telecom resilience The Central Election Commission (CEC) yesterday approved a motion to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) Civic groups on March 8 began a campaign to recall Hsieh They said that Hsieh abused his power to benefit the Breeze Group which is run by the family of his ex-girlfriend Michelle Liao (廖曉喬) by ordering police to break into Keelung E-Square Mall to complete a handover NET Fashion Development Corp disputed the rights of operation of the mall by Breeze Group NET Fashion Development filed a lawsuit against Hsieh and the city government as operating rights were still being disputed in court Asked whether the recall was politically motivated Hsieh said that the right to recall has become a tool to overturn election results Such habits should not be allowed to continue urging Keelung residents to vote to prevent continued abuse of recalls The KMT in a statement questioned the neutrality of the CEC citing CEC Chairman Lee Chin-yung’s (李進勇) “open support” for the recall campaign adding that his decisions regarding the Breeze Group were in full compliance with the law and safeguarded the property of Keelung residents The court has ruled in favor of the Keelung City Government in all three trials to date regarding the mall The KMT criticized President William Lai (賴清德) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Lin You-chang (林右昌) accusing them of impartiality for their support of the recall movement The DPP plans to mobilize and launch multiple recall motions in the hope of unseating enough legislators to regain its legislative majority adding that Keelung residents should not allow that to happen DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) said that the party respected Keelung residents’ exercise of their rights The DPP has been clear in its stance on the issue The DPP and the Keelung City Council are continuing their inspection of Hsieh’s faults in governance and whether he is attempting to make improvements to oversight of the city government Keelung last year became the nation’s “loneliest” city with one-person households making up more than 41 percent of its households the latest data from the Ministry of the Interior showed there were more than 3.57 million one-person households nationwide accounting for 37.67 percent of the total households The nation’s population spiked to a record 23.6 million in 2019 before consecutively declining year by year to 23.4 million last year the number of households climbed to about 9.49 million from about 8.83 million over the same period mainly because nuclear families were decreasing The number of one-person or two-people households has been rising over the past decade meaning that households of people living alone or childless couples were increasing The number of one-person or two-people households increased to more than 5.59 million last year while households of four people or more declined over the same period The number of households of five people or more — which were mostly three-generation families — dropped to about 985,000 last year dipping to fewer than 1 million for the first time Keelung was the “loneliest” among all administrative regions with its one-person households reaching 41.61 percent while its households of six people or more accounted for 2.42 percent It was followed by Taitung County and Taipei respectively of which one-person households surpassed 40 percent each The least lonely administrative region was Changhua County of which one-person households made up 30.61 percent while households of six people or more reached 9.66 percent third behind Kinmen and Matsu (Lienchiang) counties the number of households of people aged 65 or older living alone was more than 1.03 million up by about 300,000 people from 727,000 in August 2018 among the 19 administrative areas in Taiwan proper only Taoyuan and Hsinchu County had positive natural population growth Yunlin County had the highest birthrate and death rate Taoyuan residents were the most willing to have children while New Taipei City residents were the least willing The Taipei City Government was the most generous nationwide in terms of birth subsidies with NT$40,000 for the first child NT$45,000 for the second and NT$50,000 for more the natural population decline in Taipei was 2,612 people last year down from 4,330 people in 2023 and 6,255 people in 2022 The Yunlin County Government’s birth subsidy of NT$30,000 for each of the first three newborns remained unchanged while the subsidy for the fourth newborn or more was raised to NT$100,000 The county had the highest birthrate last year which had the lowest birthrate among the six major cities over the past few years earlier this year increased its subsidies to NT$30,000 for the first newborn NT$40,000 for the second and NT$50,000 for more Although Taipei provides the highest birth subsidies and has diminishing natural population decline last year its social population decline gained speed meaning that soaring house prices kept driving people away from the city The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪) Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations were summoned as suspects in relation to the forgery investigation who said they suspect he used his access to the administrative system to assist the recall campaign in finding personal information Chi and Chang Chin-fa for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) prosecutors petitioned the district court to detain and hold incommunicado KMT Banciao District (板橋) office secretary-general Chen Chen-jung (陳貞容) after questioning her for more than two hours authorities raided the party’s New Taipei City office and the residences of three individuals KMT Sanchong District (三重) office executive director Lo Ta-yu (羅大宇) and Banciao party secretary Tsai Kan-tzu (蔡甘子) were also summoned and questioned Operations at Taiwan’s Keelung Port were disrupted after an oil spill occurred during a bunkering operation on March 16 and port officials worked to contain the spill while departures were delayed a 24,500 dwt containership with a 1,675 TEU capacity was refueling at the port around 10 pm local time on Sunday night the spill was caused by an overflow from the fuel barge connection leading to approximately 100 liters of heavy oil leaking into the water near the container terminal The vessel built in 1998 and registered in Taiwan The oil spread across multiple berths and affected several ships docked in the area Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) deployed containment booms to prevent the oil from spreading further Oil-absorbent materials were also used to minimise environmental damage Port authorities were seen using power washers and other cleaning methods to remove the oil from the hulls and mooring lines of the affected vessels by March 18 Cleaning priority was given to ships with scheduled departures to reduce delays The TIPC confirmed that departures were delayed due to the spill Three pilot boats required dry-docking for cleaning while other ships had to wait until their hulls were cleared of oil before resuming their journeys The Norwegian Sky cruise ship had departed for Hong Kong by March 19 and the TS Pusan had also left after being cleaned the Kanway Global and TS Surabaya were still docked at Keelung Port The Maritime Port Bureau has fined Kanway Lines TW$300,000 (approximately US$9,100) under the Commercial Port Law for the spill Disclaimer : The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only While we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct we make no representations or warranties of any kind suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of Do you have info to share with us ? Suggest a correction Marine Insight News Network is a premier source for up-to-date and insightful coverage of the maritime industry Marine Insight News Network prides itself on delivering accurate Signup today and get maritime ebooks submitted to your inbox directly.  © 2010 - 2025 Marine Insight — All Rights Reserved We respect your privacy and take protecting it very seriously Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang accused of using data from household registration system Keelung official accused of violating Personal Data Protection Act 1508TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔) was released on bail of NT$400,000 (US$12,400) on Tuesday evening Chang was accused of using the household registration system to assist recall campaigns targeting DPP city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), per CNA Prosecutors accused Chang of providing signatures of deceased individuals prosecutors issued search warrants for investigators to enter six locations including the KMT Keelung City Party Headquarters They also searched the residences of recall leaders Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃) and KMT committee director of Renai District Chang Jin-fa (張金發) violated Article 41 of the Personal Data Protection Act by illegally using personal data by non-public agencies The Keelung District Court began detention hearings at 6 p.m Chang Yuan-hsiang was given bail and restricted to his residence while Chi and Chang Jin-fa remained in detention and held incommunicado Musicians support recall votes at Kaohsiung's Megaport Festival Taiwanese living in Japan voice support for recall initiative CEC warns Taiwan election law bans campaigning during recall vote Man in Taipei prosecuted for secretly filming MRT bathrooms CEC approves 1st stage of recall for Taiwan’s Keelung mayor Taiwan dollar hits NT$29 per US dollar triggering currency exchange rush Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes off east Taiwan Taipei MRT reminds passengers of drinking water ban Vietjet flight makes unscheduled landing in Taiwan Four Vietnamese residents found dead in northern Taiwan Central Bank steps in as Taiwan dollar posts strong single-day gain Rising Taiwan dollar over Trump tariffs has pros and cons Taiwan ranked 2nd most innovative country in world US tech earnings spark Taiwan stock market rally Central Bank says US did not push Taiwan to appreciate currency please first agree to the privacy policy below April 6 (CNA) A man who train surfed from Taipei to Keelung City on Saturday clinging precariously between two carriages is likely to be fined for breaking the law got off a Taitung-bound Taroko Express train at Nangang Station in Taipei to purchase something the man climbed onto the coupling between the third and fourth carriages as the train was leaving the station TRC said that its personnel at Xizhi Station in New Taipei noticed something suspicious on surveillance camera monitors and they informed the train conductor and control center of the issue at around 8.15 p.m when the train was ordered to stop at Qidu Station in Keelung City the man went down on the track and was then pulled on to the platform by railway police which caused no more than a five-minute delay at Qidu Station Tsai now faces a fine of between NT$1,500 (US$45.18) to NT$7,500 citing Articles 57 and 71 of the Railway Act TRC is urging passengers to adhere to safety rules and avoid putting themselves and others in danger Keelung’s youth electric scooter program will relaunch on Jan 1 with several updates including more models available for NT$0 monthly installments the city’s Bureau of Environmental Protection said Keelung citizens between 20 to 45 can trade-in an older gasoline-powered scooter for a new electric one either for a subsidized monthly installment plan or an outright purchase The monthly subsidies range from NT$300 to NT$699 and last for three to five years and the one-time subsidy for purchases is NT$60,000 (US$1,850) There are six models that are eligible for the zero-monthly payment option and nine for the NT$60,000 purchase subsidy Qualified individuals can apply online before submitting documents to one of the city’s 50 partner dealerships which first launched in September last year it was temporarily halted in July this year and trade in a scooter that was registered in the city prior to Dec Applicants do not have to submit their own vehicle as they can trade in a relative’s or friend’s scooter as well The program does not require public service or volunteering to be eligible The program also encourages mobile battery charging as it includes access to 60 exchange stations and 15 charging points The Keelung Bureau of Environmental Protection has budgeted for 1,000 approved applicants a month If the number of applicants exceeds that quota the agency will livestream a lottery drawing on its Facebook page The application period will run between Jan 1 and Jan 15 Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker 26 (CNA) Plans to repurpose Taiwan's only dedicated oil-fired power plant into a gas-fired facility was approved with modifications at an environmental impact assessment meeting in Taipei on Wednesday following scuffles between local residents for and against the change The Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee under Taiwan's Ministry of Environment (MOENV) reached a consensus on requiring Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to address potential soil contamination issues in connection to its plans to refit Keelung City's Hsieh-ho Power Plant and build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station next to the plant The committee's decision on Wednesday means that the plans have now cleared the second stage of the environmental impact assessment which included six preliminary meetings since 2018 The committee had originally set a limit of 20 speakers during the meeting but instead agreed to allow all 51 people who had registered by a 9.30 a.m Those opposing the power plant's shift from oil to gas fuel accused Taipower of concealing information about soil and groundwater pollution prompting the committee chairperson to adjourn the meeting until midday heated exchanges between residents supporting and opposing the state-owned power company's plans descended into minor physical altercations the committee decided to continue discussing the plans in a closed-door session that included the media and government agencies but excluded the protesters a Taipower representative said that converting the Hsieh-ho Power Plant into a gas-fired facility was necessary to stabilize the power supply in northern and northeastern parts of the country which currently has a demand of 6 million kilowatts If the Hsieh-ho Power Plant is decommissioned the northeastern grid will largely be dependent on the coal-fired Hoping Power Plant in Hualien County which only has a capacity of around 1.3 million kilowatts Taipower also said the planned LNG receiving terminal -- located on the waterfront to receive imports of the flammable fuel -- would have strict safety regulations and that "internationally no explosions have occurred in similar storage facilities." a Keelung City councilor of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that 20 out of 24 ward chiefs in Zhongshan District where the plant is located had expressed support for the plans He said that the oil-fired plant currently causes "a lot of dust [pollution]" that falls on "residents' cars clothes and rooftops" and that local people "need better air quality." 2025Keelung City Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) of the main opposition Kuomingtang (KMT) also attended the meeting on Wednesday Located on Taiwan's northern coastline near Keelung City's main urban area Hsieh-ho Power Plant currently has two oil-fired units each capable of producing 500 megawatts each that began operating in 1980 and 1985 according to information on Taipower's website The plans are in line with Taiwan's official energy strategy achieve nuclear-free," according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' website Taiwan's 251.44 terawatt hours (TWh) of net power (generated and purchased) included gas (47.2 percent) renewables (11.9 percent) and nuclear (4.7 percent) sources A containership docked at Keelung Port has spilled oil during refuelling contaminating several nearby vessels on 16 March The Port of Keelung Taiwan International Ports Corporation received an alert regarding a suspected oil spill from the 1,675 teu Kanway Global on 16 March the incident has raised concerns about the port’s environmental management and operational safety approximately 100 liters of heavy oil leaked into the harbor during the fuel barge connection procedure containment booms and oil-absorbent materials have been deployed to minimize environmental and operational disruptions The three affected pilot boats will require drydocking for maintenance while the other vessels have delayed their departures until the clean-up is completed.  As reported, the containership oil spill affected multiple vessels, including TS Pusan and three pilot boats all of which had their hulls and mooring lines contaminated Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "a77bb8a77e0b16deb872182c5ec7ba6b" );document.getElementById("c08a1a06c7").setAttribute( "id" Environmental protection groups yesterday demanded that the Ministry of Environment write Taiwan Power Co’s (台電 Taipower) promise into law and pledge that future burning of liquefied natural gas (LNG) would not produce any sulfur dioxide The Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association made the remarks at the ministry’s review meeting on Taipower’s project to transform the Hsieh-ho Power Plant (協和電廠) from an oil-fired facility into one powered by natural gas as well as a land reclamation off Keelung’s Waimushan (外木山) to build a fourth LNG terminal Taipower recently said that live tests of its gas turbine engines showed nearly zero sulfur dioxide exhaust The group accused Taipower of making false claims citing the company’s environmental assessment report for the planned LNG receiving terminal which showed an annual exhaust of 242.7 tonnes of sulfur dioxide The Wild at Heart group said if Taipower stood by its claims Waimushan Conservation Action convener Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) said that the construction of the LNG plant meant the building of a dyke that would affect the safety of ships entering and exiting Keelung Harbor as well as ships berthing near the LNG terminal Keelung Sustainable Development Youth Action Alliance chairperson Chen Wei-chung (陳薇仲) said Taipower should solicit opinions from the Ministry of National Defense as the plant is located near a military port and might become a target in the event of an invasion Former New Power Party legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said environmental assessments still rely on permits to control air pollution instead of basing such controls on emission quantity Keelung City Councilor Chen Kuan-yu (陳冠宇) said that Keelung should adopt green energy sources Other representatives present at the meeting expressed support for the construction of the LNG terminal citing stable power generation as a fundamental part of driving Keelung’s development such as attracting companies like Nvidia to the region Some borough wardens and residents rejected environmental protection groups’ claims that they had been “bought off” by Taipower Local diving coach Wang Ming-hsiang (王銘祥) said he had opposed the construction during its initial proposals as the location of the plant and the proposed reclamation area was unreasonable which now conserved coral reefs in the region and said people should consider the issue as a whole and avoid radical environmentalism Subscribe  Gift a Subscription a heavy lift vessel was delivering a new container crane to the port of Keelung when it hit and destroyed an existing crane.  the heavy lift ship Yuzhou Qi Hang was arriving at Keelung with a brand new STS crane As it pulled into its berth at the port's Pier 20 the top of the new gantry crane contacted and pressed up against the existing STS crane on the wharf As the ship moved further towards the pier the new crane pushed the old crane backwards until it was resting on one set of rail wheels then toppled it over. Unlike most STS crane allisions the old crane's structure did not buckle before it hit the ground: it was tipped over intact.  ???????????? - A container crane collapsed at Pier 20 of Keelung Port in Taiwan after a collision. The incident occurred when the barge Yuzhou Qi Hang, carrying a new crane for China Container Terminal Corporation, accidentally hit an existing crane, knocking it over. Fortunately,… pic.twitter.com/XHrh1bO88N and physical damage to other port infrastructure was limited An estimated four empty containers and one full container were hit and operations were temporarily suspended in the terminal area.  The estimated cost of replacement for the lost crane is over $40 million The port operator and the vessel operator are in talks with their insurers about responsibility for the damage.  Taiwan's transport regulators attended the scene of the crash and the circumstances of the casualty are under investigation Container crane allisions are a rare but recurring event for terminal operators the container ship OOCL Durban hit an STS crane and a moored vessel as it approached its berth collapsing the crane and injuring one port employee The falling crane severely damaged a second according to operator Taiwan International Ports A physical altercation broke out yesterday at a meeting to assess the environmental impact of Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) plan to renovate the Concord Power Plant in Keelung which includes building a fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal as fierce opposition to the proposal continues The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee approved the report but said that developers should include soil and groundwater statistics in the report and urged them to increase the number of locations items and frequency of soil and groundwater tests Developers should also correctly identify coral by genus and use high-porosity materials in the designated development area After Taiwan People’s Party legislators raised concerns over the meeting’s procedure and the completeness of Taipower’s assessment the discussions escalated into a physical altercation with people opposing the plan forcefully occupying the speaker’s podium Deputy Minister of Environment Yeh Jiunn-horng (葉俊宏) announced a recess before continuing at 12:17pm the conflict continued after the meeting reconvened leaving Taipower representatives to complete their report amid the chaos Keelung and Yilan County primarily rely on power grids to the northeast and northwest but increasing populations and industrial development in Keelung and urban districts east of Taipei’s Zhongshan (中山) and Datong (大同) districts and east of New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) have placed significant pressure on the northeastern grid Taipower chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) warned of possible insufficient power capacity for the northeastern grid saying that the grid was already relying on outside power due to the retirement of power generation units in northern Taiwan Power generation for the northeastern grid previously relied on the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) the Concord facility and the privately operated Ho-Ping Power Plant with excess need pulled from the northwestern grid The Concord plant only operates two oil-fired power generation units reducing the northeastern power grid to 1.5 power plants adding that both units have not been generating power at full capacity to reduce air pollution Taipower said the northeastern grid would have to generate 6 gigawatts (GW) this year to comply with government policies to power companies in the artificial intelligence supply chain and accommodate an increased population with more power generation units due to be decommissioned — the Concord’s third and fourth units were initially scheduled for decommissioning at the end of last year — the Ho-Ping plant would have to shoulder the brunt of power generation That exceeds the minimum of the 4.2GW required for a reliable power grid Taipower said it is implementing floating storage regasification units (FSRU) to temporarily provide sufficient LNG so that new gas-fired power unit could begin commercial operations as early as 2031 Temporary FSRUs would not provide sufficient LNG for a safety buffer Only the completion of the fourth LNG terminal The new gas-fired power generation units should be able to provide 1,800GW-hours of power annually and reduce air polluting emissions by 96 percent and greenhouse gases by 52 percent Officials yesterday vowed to enhance patrols in key offshore areas in response to the cutting of an undersea Internet cable last week by the Cameroon-registered Hong Kong-owned freighter Shunxing-39 (順興39號) while Keelung prosecutors said they have opened an judicial investigation into the incident Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) yesterday said the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has gathered data about the incident and given it to the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office “The CGA has recorded all of Taiwan’s undersea cables their landing points onshore and the respective offshore areas These are the priority sectors for marine patrol and surveillance by CGA vessels,” Lee said at a news conference following the Cabinet meeting “In case of a future similar incident of ships undertaking suspicious activities and causing damage to undersea cables we shall take the same measures — gathering evidence and marine tracking data and prosecuting those found responsible,” she added The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) at a separate news conference said that it cannot rule out the severing of the Trans-Pacific Express cable as being part of China’s “gray zone” tactics “China has caused problems around the world with Chinese ships registered abroad and flying other countries’ flags suspected of deliberately cutting undersea cables Finland and other nearby countries,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said “Taiwan also had to deal with numerous incidents of undersea cables being cut in waters around Kinmen and Lienchiang counties Our government has to take a serious stance regarding these situations,” Liang said A formal request for assistance was also sent to South Korea as heavy seas had prevented coast guard personnel from boarding the Shunxing-39 last week The MAC said it was a Chinese vessel owned by Jie Yang Trading Ltd a Hong Kong company headed by Chinese citizen Guo Wenjie and is registered as Shunxing-39 in Cameroon and Xingshun-39 in Tanzania Guo denied the ship’s involvement in the cutting of the cables Hong Kong’s records showed the company had been set up in 2020 Its listed address was a single room in a cosharing office space for a secretarial services company in an industrial building China’s Taiwan Affairs Office in a written statement on Wednesday said there were more than 100 incidents of damage to undersea cables annually and that they are “common maritime accidents.” Taiwan is making accusations “out of thin air” and intentionally hyping up the “so-called ‘gray zone’ threat from the mainland,” it added The CGA said it was not yet able to gauge the ship’s “real intention.” The vessel had lingered in waters off northern Taiwan since early last month until its signal was turned off on Friday last week Guo declined to specify why the ship had remained in the area or the purpose of the voyage but said authorities had only sought details of its GPS movements “I don’t understand why there has been so much news about this so it had stopped in the nearby waters,” he said “We followed the rules and normal procedures then Taiwan would have investigated and detained us.” The recall vote on Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) would be held today and would need more than 77,700 valid “agree” votes to pass the Keelung City Election Commission said on Friday The total number of eligible voters for the recall vote is 310,797 The voting is to be held from 8am to 4pm at 283 polling stations set up across the seven administrative districts in the northern port city In accordance with the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) the recall vote is to pass if the number of valid “agree” votes exceeds the number of “disagree” votes and the number of “agree” votes reaches more than one quarter (more than 77,700 votes) of the total eligible voters in the electoral district “If the number of valid ‘disagree’ votes exceeds the number of ‘agree’ votes or if the number of ‘agree’ votes does not meet the required threshold a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) who has been in office since 2022 was initiated in March following a dispute over the changing of the operator of Keelung E-Square Mall The recall campaign also accuses Hsieh of failing to fulfill his campaign pledges and had abused his power Welcome to portstrategy.com. This site uses cookies. Read our policy webinars and articles on innovations and current trends in the ports and terminals industry Alternatively REGISTER for website access and sign up for email alerts TIPC focuses on Taiwan’s port business operations as well as the integration of various domestic and international commercial port resources Recently published Port of Keelung statistics confirm robust growth in the port’s international cruise sector in 2024 with 166 cruise ship visits and 787 thousand passengers handled Although passenger levels are still only 83% of the pre-pandemic peak the 266 thousand foreign passengers handled this year represents an all-time record surpassing the previous record of 257 thousand recorded set in 2018 The main countries of origin of foreign passengers processed through Port of Keelung in 2024 Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Europa 2 (foreground) and TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 5 (background) at berth in Keelung Port Japanese passenger numbers were up 67.4% from the foreign cruise passenger peak in 2018 with most arriving either aboard the MSC Bellissima on one of its 21 winter-season voyages or during one of the four calls by Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess The United States has long been the world’s largest source market for cruise vacations with US passengers generally well represented in port calls worldwide The 9% increase in US cruise visitors to Taiwan in 2024 over 2018 reflects a generally stable trend.  The remarkable 205.1% increase in South Korean passengers throughput in 2024 compared to 2018 reflects a bullish bilateral trend. Last year’s numbers benefitted greatly from South Korea-based charter cruise visits by the Costa Serena Taiwan and South Korea’s economic parity and geographic proximity suggests room for significant further growth in South Korean cruise passenger numbers in the coming years TIPC has already paid two visits in 2025 to Rakuten Travel South Korea’s largest travel agency to discuss opening additional cruise routes between the two countries Costa Serena (foreground) and Royal Princess (background) at berth in Keelung Port Germany is Europe’s largest source market for cruise vacations Those vessels operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Phoenix Reisen were important source of pre-pandemic German cruise calls to Taiwan these three companies along with (also German-based) TUI Cruises all made calls at Port of Keelung delivering a 420.4% increase in German cruise visitors over 2018 and suggesting significant future potential still The Foreign (non-Taiwanese) cruise passenger arrivals are categorized as either “transit” or “turnaround” The number of transit passengers (228,539) processed in 2024 represents a 4.5% increase over 2018 which was also the main reason for the number of foreign passengers record breaking The number of foreign turnaround cruise passenger( 37,795) were just slightly (0.8%) less than in 2018 As part of efforts to further expand passenger arrivals in this category and increase the time spent by foreign passengers in Taiwan TIPC has launched additional port charge discount incentives for cruise operators Turnaround cruise ships with foreign passenger complements of at least 30% are now eligible for an NT$100 discount on service charge for all passengers on that voyage with this discount valid for use in combination with other incentives MSC Bellissima (foreground) and Norwegian Spirit (background) at berth in Keelung Port Port of Keelung currently has 237 international cruise ship arrivals booked for 2025 with the expected 861 thousand passengers they should bring marking a 9.5% increase over the 2024 total Port of Keelung will continue coordinating and working with the national Tourism Administration and local governments to promote local tourism opportunities and will continue improving its port facilities and offering attractive incentives to attract more cruise travel to Taiwan Provided by Stevedoring and Warehousing Dept. TIPCHuai-hsuan Liu | Manager02-2420-6421 | sharon06@twport.com.tw The 2023 ESG report released by the Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) after submission to the Singapore-based Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards (ASRA) has been honored with the ASRA Asia’s Best Sustainability Report (Public Sector) Silver Award Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) held the “Splendorous 13: A New Chapter” event on (February 26th) to mark its 13th  anniversary.  Kaohsiung Port Cruise Terminal today (January 21st) welcomed a Historic Dual Maiden Call Site powered by Webvision Cloud 16 (CNA) A rock fisherman died Saturday after he and six others were washed into the sea by strong waves on Keelung Islet according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) The seven people were part of a group of 45 that went to the islet by boat early Saturday for recreational rock fishing The CGA said it received a report at 10 a.m that some members of the group had been washed off the rocks into the sea and it dispatched a patrol boat to the area and called the National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) to help with the rescue effort a recreational fishing boat had already picked up six of the people who had been knocked into the sea The seventh angler was seen wedged between some reefs and appeared to be unconscious The angler was picked by CGA rescue workers and airlifted to Songshan Airport by an NASC helicopter but was later pronounced dead According to the Keelung City government's Department of Economic Affairs the incident occurred when the weather changed suddenly at about 10 a.m When the three recreational fishing boats set sail at 5 a.m. the winds were forecast to be no stronger than 49.68 kilometer per hour there were no typhoon warnings in that region Recreational fishing boats are allowed at sea in that area only if the wind is forecast to be under 50.04 kilometers per hour citing the Regulations for Recreational Fishery While rock fishing is a popular recreational activity on Taiwan's northeastern coast the Keelung City government has regulations in place to safeguard recreational fishermen It advised that anglers in the area wear life vests and spiked boots and that boat operators provide insurance for their passengers A China-registered heavy-lift vessel that had previously involved in an accident at Taiwan’s Keelung Port just two weeks ago has now run aground along the coast of Taiwan after battling severe weather Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) safely rescued all 17 crew members after the Yu Zhou Qi Hang carrying three ship-to-shore container cranes became beset by rough seas brought on by Typhoon Kong-rey Photos and videos posted on social media show the vessel struggling heavy weather just offshore and later grounded against rocks with at least one of the loaded cranes collapsed The Yu Zhou Qi Hang had just departed from Taiwan’s Keelung Port bound for Zhangzhou in southeastern China’s Fujian Province the vessel was found struggling 2.4 nautical miles northwest of Cape Yehliu amid strong winds and waves which was transporting three massive gantry cranes but the severe weather forced them to retreat worsening conditions led the captain of Yu Zhou Qi Hang to abandon the ship All 17 crew members were successfully rescued by a CGA patrol boat and brought ashore in Keelung Port The grounding marks the second significant incident involving Yu Zhou Qi Hang this month the vessel collided with a gantry crane at Keelung Port’s Berth W20 while attempting to dock collapsing one crane at the berth and damaging another aboard the ship but the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) classified the event as a major marine occurrence Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update and updates delivered daily straight to your inbox A fire broke out Wednesday afternoon aboard a car carrier reportedly carrying 110 electric vehicles in Belgium’s Port of Zeebrugge’s outer harbor The blaze originated on one of the cargo.. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released an interim report detailing last year’s collision involving the Singapore-flagged containership Maersk Shekou and the berthed tall ship STS Leeuwin II A report by South Korea’s Maritime Safety Tribunal (KMST) has identified multiple causes behind the April 16 2014 Sewol ferry disaster that claimed 304 lives—mostly students on a school trip—in what became the.. Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news Stay informed with the latest maritime and offshore news For general inquiries and to contact us,please email: [email protected] To submit a story idea or contact our editors, please email: [email protected] For advertising opportunities contactEmail: [email protected]Phone: +1.805.704.2536 Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe Prosecutors today said they declined to press charges against Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) and others implicated in a dispute with NET Fashion Development Co Prosecutors said they declined to pursue charges as ownership of the mall was unclear the city retained the right to reclaim the asset there was lack of criminal intent and no evidence of larceny NET accused Hsieh and other city officials of larceny damage to private property and other charges after the company was evicted from the Keelung E-Square Mall by more than 40 officers the Keelung City Government said it “retains the mall’s property ownership and therefore constitutes a legal action and not ‘breaking and entering into private property.’” NET’s lawyers argued that the eviction was an abuse of government authority The company said it obtained the rights to operate the mall in 2016 in cooperation with Lucky Parking Co which previously operated the complex as a parking lot and invested NT$300 million (US$9.16 million) to convert and renovate the second to fourth floors Prosecutors found that the contract between Lucky Parking and the Keelung City Government said that the expanded structures belonged to the city government arguing that officials were justified in reclaiming their assets after the contract expired because NET had lost other civil suits claiming ownership of the mall’s second to fourth floors Hsieh and city officials did not have reason to believe the structures were still under dispute City officials only took charge of management and equipment of the mall which was deemed insufficient to press larceny charges Net lost a separate civil suit on the question of whether it owned the mall’s renovated floors Hsieh remains under investigation for alleged contraventions of the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) in two separate cases one related to a recycling project and the other a scooter subsidy program government has quietly unfrozen about $870 million in security assistance programs for Taiwan according to two officials familiar with the matter It is a significant move amid dramatic cuts to foreign assistance by the Trump administration, reductions which have faced a flurry of legal challenges. On Wednesday evening, just hours before a midnight deadline, the Supreme Court's chief justice paused a federal judge's order to disperse some $2 billion in frozen foreign aid "We will come get you sooner or later," in reference to Taiwan A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, Lin Jian, said earlier this week the U.S funding decision "sends a gravely wrong signal to 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces." China also kicked off live-fire military drills off the shores of Taiwan's main island [China] even blatantly violated international practice by setting up a drills area in waters about 40 nautical miles off the coast .. without prior warning," Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it had found and monitored 45 aircraft 14 navy vessels and one ship from the Chinese military operating around Taiwan in a 24-hour period ending Thursday This month, China also held live-fire drills with a group of three naval ships in international waters off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia leading Australian authorities to issue a warning to commercial flights between the two countries over the presence of the Chinese warships The Chinese drills near Taiwan began a day after Taiwan's coast guard said it detained eight Chinese sailors on a ship carrying the flag of the West African nation of Togo The ship dropped anchor shortly before Taiwan's state telecom company discovered a nearby undersea cable had been severed connecting Taiwan's main island to a Taiwanese outlying island that is also close to China is the third Taiwanese undersea cable in two years to be severed under suspicious circumstances a Chinese ship may have dragged its anchor over the cable Last November, two undersea fiber optic cables in the Baltic Sea were severed and officials in Sweden and other countries are investigating a Chinese-flagged ship in possible connection to the incident Become an NPR sponsor please first agree to the privacy policy below.Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) will remain in office after a majority of voters rejected his recall in a public vote on Sunday (Full text of the story is now in CNA English news archive. To view the full story, you will need to be a subscribed member of the CNA archive. To subscribe, please read here.) A physical altercation broke out this morning at a meeting to assess the environmental impact of Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) plan to build a fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Keelung Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators raised concerns over the meeting’s procedures and the completeness of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) Discussions resulted in a clash between those in support and opposition with opponents forcefully occupying the speaker’s podium and temporarily suspending the meeting Today’s meeting was to review a preliminary draft of the EIA for Taipower’s plan to transform the Hsieh-ho Power Plant from an oil-fired facility into one powered by natural gas as well as reclaim land off Keelung’s Waimushan (外木山) to build a fourth LNG terminal Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿) and Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) attended the meeting The assessment appeared to be missing data concerning groundwater pollution there was one collision and two to three occasions deemed to be high-risk adding that these issues should be detailed clearly to legislators and the public before the project is “forced through.” Whistle-blowers have uncovered that Taipower hid data concerning soil and groundwater pollution and did not publicize this information to the EIA review committee and the public Keelung Mayor George Hsieh (謝國樑) said the meeting should be delayed until the situation had been clarified by the Keelung Bureau of Environmental Protection These comments provoked a clash between supporters and the opposition who began shouting at each other before pushing and shoving Opponents of the project stormed the podium the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said that Taipower had submitted a full report on Feb which was sent to committee members on Wednesday last week The report states that the project site is not classified as a soil or groundwater pollution control area contraventions of the Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Act (土壤及地下水污染整治法) are reviewed separately to EIAs and should be handled by the relevant authorities Taipower said it had already conducted an independent pre-construction investigation of soil pollution as per regulations finding that the plant was not designated as a polluted site Only one site on the coast was found to have polluted soil which was attributed to a past leakage of transformer oil Police warned people about fraud on dating sites and social media platforms in which a man was scammed out of NT$700,000 last year signed up for a dating site and was asked to pay to become an “approved member,” the Keelung Police Bureau said Then she asked me to make an online donation to boost her popularity,” Liu was quoted by the bureau as saying the woman said he needed to upgrade his membership by paying NT$90,000 so that they can meet up at a hotel room the dating site’s customer service asked Liu to pay a “safety fee” to guarantee the woman’s safety so he called the site’s customer service line to complain “The customer service worker laughed and said he could file a lawsuit They said that the site’s managers were in China,” it said finding that the photo of the woman was taken from the Internet adding that it would be difficult to identify the people behind the scam “It took a great deal of effort to deal with the bank so that they identify Liu as a fraud victim It took eight months of talks and presenting evidence to successfully return about NT$70,000 to him,” Keelung Police Bureau criminal investigation head Kuo Ching-ju (郭憬融) said “Images of beautiful women can be easily found online and used by criminal groups to deceive people on dating sites,” Kuo said members of criminal groups often find an excuse to demand that their victims wire some money urging people to be careful when they use dating Web sites and apps A ship accidentally knocked down an existing quay crane at Keelung Port in Taiwan while docking to unload another pair of new cranes The accident occurred on Pier 20 at the port on Monday afternoon the damage is estimated at around NT$300m ($9.3m) The cause of the accident is still under investigation The vessel was travelling at a speed of 1.9 knots at the moment it hit the crane A video of the incident shows one of the new cranes onboard the vessel toppling over the old one while the vessel was docking crushing a number of containers on the quayside in the process police and firefighters arrived at the scene to assist with the incident Reports from local media suggest four empty and one full containers were damaged as well as one hangar Since the incident involved Piers 20 and 21 the port moved berthing operations to Pier 19 so that the terminal could continue operations until the accident has been cleared up Both cranes are owned by the China Container Terminal Corporation Reports indicate that both the new and old collapsed cranes were insured The ship carrying the new cranes is owned by ZPMC from China the world’s largest crane manufacturer The accident happened on the day the Chinese navy was carrying out drills surrounding the island of Taiwan ⚠️🚢 A crane COLLAPSED at #Keelung Port this afternoon after a Chinese cargo ship accidentally struck it while unloading new cranes. Thankfully, no injuries have been reported so far. #Taiwan 😲 pic.twitter.com/MnyFDZTpbF “Barge takes out crane at Keelung port” Barge Now captain you have more room alongside for operation… The High Prosecutors’ Office this week announced plans to reopen an investigation into three civil servants for potential involvement in the Keelung E-Square Mall (基隆東岸商場) case The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office earlier decided not to charge three civil servants with concealing public rental space income to benefit Lucky Parking Co (大日開發) although Chen and Ho were charged with bribery and leaking confidential information The indictment alleged that a man surnamed Su (蘇) — head of Lucky Parking which previously operated E-Square’s parking lot — gave Chen bribe money totaling NT$950,000 (US$29,459) from 2018 to 2022 when he was a temporary employee of the Keelung City Government then an employee of the city’s Department of Transportation allegedly leaked information to Lucky Parking after learning that the company was under review for corruption Su allegedly underreported Lucky Parking’s annual revenue from the parking lot exempting the company from royalty payments totaling NT$4.86 million to the city Chen was charged under the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) Ho was charged under the Criminal Code for leaking confidential information and Su and nine other Lucky Parking employees were charged under the Anti-Corruption Act as well as the Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法) and Tax Collection Act (稅捐稽徵法) The Keeling office also found that Ho and Zhang allegedly agreed to conceal rental income for Lucky Parking although since it it was not clear whether they had the intention to illegally benefit from such an act prosecutors declined to press charges against the three men for profit-seeking and instead referred the case to the High Prosecutors’ Office The High Prosecutors’ Office concluded that additional clarification was required and returned the case to the Keeling office.