The Taiwanese Government has deported a Chinese fishing boat captain who pleaded guilty in connection with a submarine cable damage incident that occurred in Taiwanese waters late last year.
Prior to his deportation, the skipper of the fishing boat Minlianyu 60138 paid a fine of around NT$90,000 (US$2,800) for the incident that occurred in October 2025.
A separate payment of NT$250,000 (US$7,900) was made to Chunghwa Telecom, the operator of the damaged cable.
The captain had earlier admitted to causing the damage by ordering his crew to deploy nets into the water. These then became entangled in an anchor that had been abandoned, resulting in damage to the Chunghwa submarine cable that runs between Taiwan and Malaysia.
The damage caused an outage, which Chunghwa duly reported.
A Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (TCGA) vessel that was sent to the area to investigate came upon Minlianyu 60138 while the latter was 4.2 nautical miles offshore. The TCGA personnel took the Chinese captain in for questioning and explained that the cables in the area were within a no-anchor zone and were clearly marked on available electronic charts.
Taiwanese officials said that the captain paid the fine as an alternative to serving a three-month prison sentence, which a court handed down in December.