Captain of ship that severed undersea cable charged, crew deported

Captain of ship that severed undersea cable charged, crew deported
Wang Chieh and Lery Hiciano / Apr 11, 2025 https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2025/04/11/2003835018

Coast guard personnel inspect the Togo-flagged ship Hong Tai 58 at Anping Harbor in Tainan last month. Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
The captain of Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) was indicted after the ship severed an undersea cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County last month.

The Tainan District Prosecutor’s Office charged the ship’s captain, a Chinese national surnamed Wang (王), for violating the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法), but lacked evidence to prosecute the other crew members, who were deported.

Prosecutors said the case involves national security and resulted in substantial losses to Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信).

Wang severed the cable on purpose, prosecutors said, as the ship’s charts indicated he was near the cable.

Wang dropped the ship’s anchor, then navigated the vessel in a z-shape to damage the cable and disrupt communications between Taiwan and Penghu, prosecutors said.

The damage led to service outages in Penghu, posing public safety risks, prosecutors added.

During questioning, Wang denied deliberately damaging the cable and said the ship dropped anchor due to unstable weather, prosecutors said.

However, prosecutors said his testimony was vague and evidence from the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) showed his actions were out of the norm and demonstrated intent to damage the cable.

The other 7 Chinese crew members on board were repatriated in accordance with the law, prosecutors said, due to insufficient evidence.

Wang knew the cable was an important piece of national communications infrastructure and deliberately sought to damage it, prosecutors said.

Preliminary estimates showed Chunghwa Telecom suffered NT$10 million (US$300,000) in losses from Wang’s alleged actions, violating Article 72 of the Telecommunications Management Act, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors requested that the court impose an appropriate sentence.