Taiwan claims containership damaged by Chinese naval vessel in collision

Image: Taiwan Coast Guard
Image: Taiwan Coast Guard

Authorities in Taiwan claim that a Chinese warship had collided with and damaged a Taiwanese-flagged cargo vessel on the evening of Wednesday, July 31.

The incident reportedly occurred at around 20:00 local time along an established shipping lane 20 nautical miles southeast of Taiwan’s Kinmen island.

Despite the damage sustained by the containership Yutai No. 1, no one on board was injured.

Two Taiwan Coast Guard patrol boats were despatched to the scene of the collision after Yutai No. 1‘s crew said that they had been ordered by the other vessel involved to sail immediately to Xiamen, China, for questioning.

Coast guard personnel arrived at the scene shortly after 22:00 and made contact with the crew of the other vessel, which they identified as a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warship.

The PLAN crew reportedly declined to undergo questioning in connection with the collision and instead sailed for Xiamen, claiming that their vessel’s hull had been “seriously damaged” in the incident.

The coast guard was unable to identify the PLAN warship’s hull number in the dark but believed the vessel was a new type of amphibious transport ship.

Yutai No. 1 then sailed for Kinmen’s LiaoLuo Port with the coast guard patrol boats providing escort. The containership arrived in Liaoluo in the early morning hours of Thursday.

Taiwanese investigators have since launched a probe to determine the reasons for the collision.


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