HONGTAI58

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Captain charged for severing undersea cable

The captain of the 'Hong Tai 58' has been charged with severing an undersea telecommunications cable off the coast of Taiwan, near the Taiwanese archipelago of Penghu, last February, by the Taiwanese prosecutors. Captain Wang, has been detained in Taiwan since the incident, which occurred in the strategic and sensitive waters between Taiwan and China. The ship had eight Chinese nationals on board and was financed by China, the Coast Guard said. The vessel, which was spotted about 11 kilometres northwest of the Jiangjun fishing port, was intercepted by the Coast Guard after the cable linking Penghu to Taiwan was severed. Mr. Wang was accused of "destroying submarine cable-related facilities. The captain instructed the crew to drop anchor (...) with the intention of destroying the submarine cable. He also steered the vessel in a zigzag pattern over the cable by using the cargo ship's anchor to cut the cable, which damaged the submarine cable and affected communications between Taiwan and Penghu, according to the prosecutors. Mr. Wang faces a maximum prison sentence of seven years. Taiwan is connected by 14 international submarine cables and 10 domestic cables, which are of great strategic importance for ensuring telecommunications.

Crew replaced steel plates for name change

The latest ship accused of damaging cables off Taiwan had a simple way of changing identity. It was able to change its name many times as the crews simply replaced three steel plates, so it has also recently traded as the 'Hongtai 68' and 'Shanmei 7'. The captain of the vessel – dubbed in local media as the ‘thousand faces ship’ – had on an earlier occasion been caught entering Taiwan with false documents.

Ship sailed under various numbers and turned off AIS

The 'Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) ', which allegedly severed the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable. is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On the night of Feb 26, the ship along with its Chinese crew was detained. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was 'Hong Tai 168', although the AIS) displayed it as 'Hong Tai 58'. The Coast Guard personnel inspected the ship at Anping Harbor in Tainan. A review of AIS records showed that the freighter in Sep 2024 had called at the ports of Kaohsiung, Anping, Keelung and Busan.The freighter apparently turned off its AIS some time after that until Jan 2025, when it appeared in waters near the port of Kaohsiung. The device stayed on until Feb 27 at 11 a.m. The records showed that the vessel had two IMO numbers, which breached the agency’s rules. Also, the MMSI had been used by the Tanzania-flagged 'Hong Da 8 (宏大8號)' and the China-flagged 'Jin Long 389 (金龍389號)', the transponder of which had remained silent for years. The 'Hong Da 8', which is active, has operated with three MMSI numbers. The records suggested that the 'Hong Tai 58', 'Hong Da 8' and Jin Long 389' were the same freighter. The Chinese state-run China COSCO Shipping Corporation and the Guangdong-based Jin Long Maritime Transport owned and operated the 'Jin Long 389'. The 'Hong Tai 58' was linked through its MMSI numbers to six vessels. Five of the ships sailed between Taiwan, China and South Korea in the past three months, each using their AIS, but intermittently.The 'Hong Da 8' had entered the Port of Anping as recently as Feb 2.