According to Chunghwa Telecom, four cores of the international submarine cable were damaged at a point off the coast at Yehliu, New Taipei City, at 7:45 am on January 3.
Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration identified a Cameroon-registered cargo ship Shunxin 39 (MMSI677087200) as being suspected of being responsible for the incident. The ship was ordered to return to waters in the vicinity of the Port of Keelung to be investigated. Coast guard officers boarded the ship for investigation, however, they were not able to detain the vessel, and it soon after departed for South Korea.
Chunghwa Telecom said that it was alerted to the damaged cable at 7:51 am Friday, and was able to reroute traffic via other submarine cables.
Despite having a Chinese name, the coast guard was unable to confirm whether the Shunxin 39 is actually a Chinese-owned ship.
Chinese and Russian ships have been accused for a spate of incidents involving damage to undersea cables recently. According to a Reuters report, a Chinese bulk carrier, Yi Peng, is a suspect after two undersea fiber optic cables were severed between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island November 17 and 18. In October, the Chinese container ship NewNew Polar Bear was suspected of damaging communication cables and an undersea pipeline between Finland and Estonia.
Defense analysts warned that the use of civilian vessels flying flags of convenience to damage undersea infrastructure may be a “gray war” tactic employed by China.
Taiwan English News is an independent publication with no corporate funding. If you found this article informative, and would like to support my work, please buy me a coffee or support me on Patreon. Subscribe to Taiwan English News for free to receive the latest news via email. Advertising queries are welcome. Share, like, comment below.
