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Taiwanese fleet to join U.S. mutual maritime assistance program

ROC Central News Agency

11/09/2023 02:23 PM

Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) A fleet of 155 private Taiwanese vessels has been assembled to join a mutual maritime assistance program led by the United States Coast Guard, Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) said Wednesday.

The U.S.' Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue program, implemented in 1958, coordinates emergency assistance to vessels on the high seas, with the cooperation and support of private shipping and fishing companies.

The new fleet of 155 boats, called "AMVER Taiwan Team," was inaugurated Wednesday at a ceremony at the Taipei 101 skyscraper, with Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), other government officials, and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk in attendance.

In Chen's address at the ceremony, he thanked OAC chief Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) for her efforts to recruit fishery associations and the operators of long-distance fishing vessels for the AMVER program in a bid to ensure the safety of domestic merchant ships and fishing boats.

The launch of AMVER Taiwan Team will complement the country's "118 emergency hotline," which has been managed by the Coast Guard Administration since 2001, Chen said, noting that the date of the fleet's inauguration coincided with the number "118."

Since 2001, calls on the hotline have resulted in the rescue of 4,593 vessels and 25,319 people, Chen said, pointing out that a light message was being displayed on the Taipei 101 tower in tribute to the country's coast guard.

Also speaking at Wednesday's event, Oudkirk said the AMVER system can help search and rescue units around the world identify the location of vessels in need of help. Based on that information, rescue coordinators can dispatch ships to assist those in distress, she said.

Since AMVER was established in 1958 under the U.S. Coast Guard, it has evolved into an effective tool to assist global search and rescue efforts, and more than 22,000 international vessels now participate in the program, Oudkirk said.

According to Kuan, some 36 private Taiwanese vessels had already been participating in the AMVER program, which she first learned about last December, when she saw Oudkirk commending them in a Facebook video.

Kuan said that gave her the idea of formally recruiting more private Taiwanese boats for the mutual maritime aid program.

(By Huang Li-yun and Ko Lin)

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