MOST investigates cause of research ship sinking

2014-10-14

The loss of Ocean Researcher 5 in rough conditions off Taiwan’s outlying Penghu County Oct. 10 is being fully investigated by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Operated by the National Applied Research Laboratories, the ship capsized in less than three hours after issuing a distress call. Of the 18 crew and 27 researchers onboard, two were killed and 24 injured.

MOST Minister Simon Chang said the sinking and death of the two researchers is a tragedy for the nation.

“We mourn the passing of Hsu Shih-chieh, a research fellow with Academia Sinica, and Lin Yi-chun, an assistant engineer with Taiwan Ocean Research Institute. Our most sincere condolences are extended to their families.”

The 2,700-ton vessel, costing NT$1.46 billion (US$48.05 million) and launched in 2011, was Taiwan’s largest and newest research ship. The craft embarked Oct. 9 on an eight-day expedition from Tainan’s Anping Port to study air pollutants and their movement in the atmosphere.

Research personnel on the voyage include those from Academia Sinica, Taiwan Ocean Research Institute and Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute, as well as graduate students from National Cheng Kung University, National Taiwan Ocean University, National Yang Ming University and National Yunlin University of Science and Technology.

According to Chang, the vessel was crewed by employees of Kaohsiung City-based Yu Pin Shipping Co. “Its voyage data recorder has been retrieved by the Maritime and Port Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and a complete analysis is underway,” he said.

“It’s still too early to pinpoint the cause of the accident,” Chang said, adding that the ministry will review its policy of contracting out day-to-day management of research ships.

“The sinking will significantly impact various national-level projects related to environmental, maritime, meteorological and national defense research.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=222754&CtNode=413)