March 7, 2015
Press Release No. 034
The Ministry of Foreign of Affairs (MOFA) received a fax from Taiwan's National Rescue Command Center and a notice from the Fisheries Agency on February 26, indicating that contact with the Taiwanese squid-fishing vessel Hsiang Fu Chun in waters southeast of Argentina had been lost at 3:00 AM on February 26, Taipei time. The report noted that the boat had 49 crew members: two from Taiwan, 11 from mainland China, 13 from the Philippines, 21 from Indonesia, and two from Vietnam.
Immediately after receiving the report, MOFA instructed the ROC representative office in Argentina to contact Argentina’s Navy rescue center to request assistance in searching for the boat. The center subsequently notified vessels in the area to watch for the vessel and sought additional assistance from the US navy and the Falkland Islands Rescue Coordination Centre, HQ British Forces Falkland Islands. MOFA also instructed the ROC representative office in the United Kingdom to seek assistance from the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union Naval Force’s Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA).
During the intensive communication with the Argentina Navy, the ROC representative office in Argentina was informed that the center had requested a commercial vessel in the area, the AS Valentia, to help search for the missing Taiwanese fishing boat, but it responded saying that the Hsiang Fu Chun was nowhere in sight. Although the ROC representative office repeatedly urged Argentina to dispatch navy aircraft and vessels to the area, the rescue center only enlisted the assistance of nearby vessels, as it would take at least 5.5 hours for aircraft to reach the area even in good weather conditions, which were unstable at the time, causing rough waters. Argentina also stressed that rescue aircraft can only fly for up to 12 hours in a row. Therefore, sending out rescue aircraft to search for the missing vessel without more accurate coordinates would be both a waste and potentially dangerous. Also, navy vessels would need six days to reach the general area and would be unable to cover it adequately.
MOFA will continue to work with the Fisheries Agency on the rescue efforts. The ROC representative offices in Argentina and the United Kingdom will also maintain close contact with their respective host countries to keep up the momentum of the search. (E)