China pins blame for grounded Chinese freighter on Taiwan
China pins blame for grounded Chinese freighter on Taiwan
2024-11-14
Last month, a Chinese freighter ran aground off the coast of Yehliu, after its crew lost control of the vessel due to Typhoon Kong-rey. Now, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office says Taiwan is to blame for the incident. The office claims that Taiwan authorities rejected requests from the vessel to return to port, putting the crew in danger. The Taiwan International Ports Authority says no such requests were made.
Braving the rough seas, staff board the grounded vessel to determine whether it’s possible to empty out its oil tank. The Yu Zhou Qi Hang, a Chinese freighter, has been stranded here for two weeks now. And as of Thursday, its fuel tank has yet to be pumped.
The freighter had set sail on Oct. 29 to avoid strong winds from Typhoon Kong-rey, only to run aground off the coast of Yehliu. The crew was rescued by the port agency and the Coast Guard. China claims Taiwan is to blame for the incident.
Zhu Fenglian
Taiwan Affairs Office
Multiple requests to return to port in Keelung were rejected. That evening, the ship lost power and ran aground near Yehliu. Its crew members had no choice but to abandon ship to save themselves.
The Taiwan International Ports Corporation has rejected the claims. In a statement, it said that the Yu Zhou Qi Hang had not requested to return to Keelung Port before it ran aground. It was only after the crew had abandoned ship that requests to take the ship back to Keelung were rejected due to the inclement weather, which would have made the operation dangerous.
The timeline of events is as follows. The Yu Zhou Qi Hang had been forbidden from leaving port on Oct. 24, as it had yet to pay compensation for knocking down a bridge crane at Keelung Port. At 2 p.m. on Oct. 28, it requested to leave port to avoid Typhoon Kong-rey. It was granted permission, and the vessel left port at 7:57 a.m. on Oct. 29. The vessel was unable to proceed further after reaching Yehliu in the afternoon of that same day. The Taiwan International Ports Authority reached out to the vessel and inquired about returning to Keelung Port, but the freighter was unable to turn around. In the end the crew decided to abandon ship, and all 17 members were airlifted to safety by the Coast Guard.
Rosalia Wu
Lawmaker (DPP)
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office is very good at exploiting issues for political maneuvering, even natural disasters like typhoons. But Taiwan is always the most humanitarian and kind-hearted country. I hope China will cease its unification campaign and stop suppressing Taiwan.
The Yu Zhou Qi Hang has suffered misfortune after misfortune, from being ordered to pay damages for crashing against a crane, to now being left stranded off the coast of Taiwan. Though all the crew is safe and sound, China is trying to use the incident to undermine Taiwan’s humanitarian efforts.
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中國籍貨輪申請回港避風遭拒? 港務公司打臉"未申請"
2024-11-14
中國籍貨輪「鈺洲啟航」上月29號擱淺，台方救出17名受困船員，但中國國台辦卻反咬台灣，聲稱鈺洲啟航「多次申請返回基隆港遭拒」，被港務公司打臉，表示根本「未申請返回基隆港」，立委吳思瑤痛批，國台辦借題發揮打壓台灣，強調台灣是最人道的國家。
冒著大浪驚險萬分，船隻將人員送上船，評估是否能進行抽油作業，但這艘擱淺超過兩周的中國籍貨輪鈺洲啟航，14號上午的抽油工作依然沒什麼進度。
上個月29號，鈺洲啟航因為康瑞颱風，出海避風，不幸擱淺在野柳外海，船員被航港單位和海巡署聯手救出，但如今，中國國台辦卻反咬台灣。
[[中國國台辦發言人 朱鳳蓮]]
“多次申請返回基隆港被拒絕，當晚該船失去動力，在野柳附近擱淺，全體船員不得不棄船緊急避險”
港務公司嚴正駁斥，聲明鈺洲啟航擱淺之前並未申請返回基隆港，船方宣布棄船後，評估當時海象不佳，拖帶風險大，因此輪船公會與引水人，也都反對拖回基隆港。
還原事件，鈺洲啟航上月24號因為撞壞橋式起重機，還沒賠錢被限制出基隆港，28號因為康芮颱風接近，下午兩點申請出港避風，隨即港務公司同意，隔天早上7點57分離港，但在野柳停留無法前行，當天下午還是港務公司主動聯繫關心，詢問是否轉向回基隆港，但因為貨船調不了頭，最後船員決定棄船逃生，海巡緊急吊掛救援，救出17人。
[[立委(民) 吳思瑤]]
“國台辦常常很會借題發揮喔，甚至藉著颱風這樣子的天災，來進行很多政治的操作，台灣永遠是最人道，而且最善意良善的國度。希望中國不要再做統戰，不要再來打壓台灣”
鈺洲啟航禍不單行，先面對損毀鉅額求償，現在又卡在貨輪擱淺，我們協助救人又幫忙善後，卻反咬我們一口。只能說中國，真是厲害，政治抹黑一把罩。
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