Southern Taiwan News

A chill wind whips across the Taiwan Strait as a small group of Taiwanese marines stands shivering on a remote dock in the early hours of the morning, their shorts and thin jackets drenched after a day spent mostly in the sea.“Are you a sleeping beauty? Are you skipping out on class?” a trainer shouts at the wiry men, who have barely slept in days, as they do sit-ups and other exercises on the rough concrete floor, some fading in and out of consciousness from fatigue.Blasts of…

State-backed shipbuilder CSBC Corporation, Taiwan has launched two domestically developed and constructed vessels in the southern Taiwan port city of Kaohsiung, reports Taiwan Today. YM Window and YM Width are 368 meters long, 51 meters wide and can carry 14,198, 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers. A 40-foot container—the most commonly used size—is around two TEUs. CSBC Chairman Lai Sun-quae said the vessels are a significant step up from the company’s last batch of 10 container ships produced from 2011 to 2015 that could carry around 8,000 TEUs. “Window and Width are quieter and more economical,” Lai said. The improved performance of the ships will help ensure they do not fall prey to pirates off the coast of Somalia as was the case with Maersk Alabama…

A powerful typhoon battered Taiwan on Saturday with strong wind and torrential rain, cutting power to 3.62 million households as the death toll rose to six. Four people were missing and 101 were injured, authorities said. Hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled and more than 9,900 people were evacuated from their homes. Television footage trees uprooted and power poles toppled over, a moped being swept into the air by wind and shipping containers piled on top of each other at a port. "The storm will weaken but we expect more rain, particularly in southern Taiwan," said Wang Shih-chien, an official with the island's Central Weather Bureau.

Both China and Taiwan have an obligation to assert claims to the South China Sea, China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, in a sign of rare political agreement between the old foes on either side of the Taiwan Strait. Rivals China and Taiwan share claims to virtually the entire South China Sea, a legacy of the Chinese civil war when the Communists beat the Nationalists and took control of the Chinese mainland in 1949. The Nationalists settled on Taiwan and as the "Republic of China" still claim to be the legitimate rulers of greater China. Beijing regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. This week, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry reiterated its claims to the South China Sea.

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…

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

The Evergreen Group was honored with “The Corporate Social Responsibility Award” on September 8 at the presentation of the 2009 Lloyd’s List Global Awards. The award recognizes the leadership demonstrated by the Evergreen Group for its efforts aimed at safeguarding the environment. Evergreen provides disaster relief and other welfare programs through the Chang Yung-Fa Foundation and supports cultural promotion and educational initiatives through Evergreen Symphony Orchestra and Evergreen Maritime Museum.

Evergreen Marine Corp (Taiwan) Ltd, which currently operates two large container terminals in the Port of Kaohsiung, has extended its lease on the newer facility at Container Terminal No 5 for a further 11 years and one month. The lease extension contract, which covers the period from December 1, 2007 to December 31, 2018, was signed by President Jack Yen and by Ming-Hui Shieh, Director-General of the Kaohsiung Harbour Bureau at a ceremony held in Kaohsiung and attended by Government officials, senior management from other shipping companies and many prominent executives representing the Southern Taiwan business community. This container terminal occupies over 400,000m2 of land and provides three berths (Piers 79, 80 and 81) with a total quay length of 815m.