《TAIPEI TIMES》 Chinese vessel suspected of damaging undersea cables - 焦點- 自由時報電子報

Chinese vessel Hai Hong Gong 66 is pictured near Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of a local resident

The captain of the Chinese vessel Hai Hong Gong 66 （海虹工 66） was detained on Monday to be questioned over suspected damage to the Taiwan-Matsu No. 3 undersea cable, the Coast Guard Administration’s （CGA） Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch said yesterday.

The vessel had been booked by the owner of the Chinese fishing vessel Min Lian Yu 63896 （閩連漁 63896）, after the latter was abandoned when it took on water, the CGA said in a statement.

The Min Lian Yu 63896 drifted with the tide before running aground off Dongyin Island （東引） in Lienchiang County （Matsu） on March 21, it said.

The Hai Hong Gong 66 arrived on Monday to begin salvage operations, the agency said.

However, Chunghwa Telecom （中華電信） reported on Tuesday that optical fibers in the Dongyin-Beigan （北竿） section of the Taiwan-Matsu No. 3 submarine cable had been damaged on Monday.

The company said it suspected the damage was caused by operations carried out by the Hai Hong Gong 66.

Authorities ordered the vessel to halt operations, and CGA personnel boarded the ship, questioned all 11 crew members and brought the captain back for further investigation, the CGA said.

The case has been referred to the Lienchiang District Prosecutors’ Office for investigation.

The CGA said it would continue to monitor the vessel, while Chunghwa Telecom personnel are to conduct an underwater inspection to assess the damage and determine responsibility.

Separately, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said it had also been notified by Chunghwa Telecom on Monday, adding that contingency measures were in place to ensure communications in Dongyin were not affected.

Repairs to the cable are expected to be completed by July, the ministry said.

Only part of the cable’s optical fibers were damaged, and normal communications have not been affected, it said, urging the public not to spread misinformation online the incident.

Separately, the CGA said it is investigating a Taiwanese vessel, the Sanlihsin （參澧鑫）, whose automatic identification system （AIS） allegedly transmitted a signal registered to China while operating near Pingtung County’s Fonggang （楓港）.

The vessel allegedly ignored CGA calls to stop and later turned off its AIS, the group Taiwan ADIZ said.

It was operating 7.9 nautical miles （14.6km） west of Fangshan Township （枋山）, where no Chinese vessels were present, the CGA said.

The agency said the vessel is suspected of using a Chinese-made transponder broadcasting maritime identification signals registered to Chinese vessels, adding that the ship has not altered its registered identity or exhibited any other abnormal behavior.

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