Coast Guard Administration News

Taiwanese coast guard commander Lin Chie-ming is on the frontline of a new type of warfare that China is waging against Taiwan. China’s weapon? Sand.On a chilly morning in late January, Lin, clad in an orange uniform, stood on the rolling deck of his boat as it patrolled in choppy waters off the Taiwan-run Matsu Islands. A few kilometers away, the Chinese coast was faintly visible from Lin’s boat. He was on the lookout for Chinese sand-dredging ships encroaching on waters controlled by Taiwan.The Chinese goal…

The construction of a 600-tonne Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol ship by  the Taiwan-based shipbuilding company Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Corporation (JSSC) began in Kaohsiung.An official statement from Taiwan coast guard said that the ship is the first of a dozen to be produced by the company for the agency.According to Taipei Times, CGA Fleet Branch head Hsieh Ching-chin and JSSC Chairman Han Pi-hsiang presided over the initiation ceremony Friday to mark the start of the ship's construction.The report quoted Hsieh saying that the construction of the patrol ship symbolized a new milestone in the country's shipbuilding capabilities…

Authorities in Taiwan are trying to contain an oil spill from a grounded container ship which has split in two off the shore of New Taipei City. The 15,487-ton T.S. Taipei, owned by TS Lines, ran aground in a storm about 300 metres from the shore while it was sailing from Hong Kong to Keelung Port in Taiwan on March 10. "The engines of the ship stopped running on March 10. Cracks began appearing on the ship on Thursday, before it split in two," say local media. The ship split at about 5pm on Thursday, causing three shipping containers to fall off the deck, Coast Guard Administration captain Shen Wen-pin said. On Friday the ship broke apart, releasing heavy oil into the sea.

Taiwan's coastguard wants to improve cooperation with the Philippines and conduct joint search and rescue exercises despite tense standoffs in disputed waters in recent months, a senior coastguard official said on Thursday. The two sides have agreed to work toward joint exercises and have already held discussions on how to conduct rescue operations, Cheng Chang-hsiung, deputy minister of Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration, told Reuters in an interview. "Now we are moving toward exercises. This is the direction of our efforts. Both sides are making the effort," Cheng said. In late May and early June, Philippine and Taiwan coastguard ships faced off in disputed waters south of Taiwan to protect their fishing vessels and try to assert territorial rights.

Taiwan's coast guard on Saturday commissioned its biggest ships for duty in the form of two 3,000-ton patrol vessels, as the island boosts defences amid concerns about China's growing footprint in the disputed South China Sea. The new vessels will be able to dock at a new port being constructed on Taiping Island, the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, before the end of this year. Taiwan's coast guard has had direct oversight of the 46-ha (114-acre) island, also known as Itu Aba, since 2000. "Taiping Island's defence capabilities will not be weak," said Wang Chung-yi, minister of the Coast Guard Administration…

Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) plans to open a new base in disputed waters north of Taiwan in May 2016. The new base at Port of Taipei in New Taipei is expected to strengthen the Coast Guard's enforcement of maritime law. The CGA said that the location of the new facility would allow it to respond quickly to fishing disputes and foreign fishing vessels in Taiwanese waters. The construction of the base comes amid disputes in waters surrounding the Diaoyutai Islands (100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan) in the East China Sea and other areas northwest of Taiwan. The Diaoyutai Islands are claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China. There have also been constant confrontations between Japan and China in the disputed area.

Transas Marine Pacific and its local partner Mercuries Data Systems (MDS) have secured a multi-million contract from the Taiwan Coast Guard Administration for installation and commissioning of the National Coastal Surveillance System. The mission-critical system is based on the Transas Navi-Harbour software employing advanced features for accurate detection, tracking and identification of small and high-speed targets. The system will provide the Taiwan Coast Guard with real time data on any activities occurring in a coastal zone thus ensuring full control over an entire coastal area. It will help to prevent illegal activity, to protect critical onshore infrastructure from intruders and support decision-making process.

President Ma Ying-jeou vows to safeguard the nation's sovereignty & fishing rights as he presided over the commissioning of 2 new  Coast Guard Administration ships. The commissioning ceremony of the two ships, a 2,000-ton frigate and a 1,000-ton patrol boat, was held in southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung city, reports Focus Taiwan. The two ships were the first batch of a total of 37 ships being commissioned under a 10-year plan to beef up the capacity of the CGA to enforce the law, carry out rescue operations and safeguard Taiwan's fishing rights -- three major missions of the administration. After the beef-up, the number of ships in the CGA's fleet will increase to 173 with a total of 36,000 tons, which Ma said will effectively safeguard the ROC's interest at sea. Source: Focus Taiwan

It has been almost two years since the Deepwater Horizon incident occurred on April 20, 2010. As a result of this incident, although there have been many bills introduced in Congress to address issues raised by this incident, as well as numerous related hearings, Congress was unable to see the way clear to actually enact any pollution-related legislation, or for that matter any substantial maritime legislation in 2011. The following is a summary of the action taken by Congress last year and a perspective on such legislation for 2012.