Cargo ship used in Chinese military drill departs Taichung Port

Taipei, Dec. 8 (CNA) A Hong Kong-flagged civilian ship that was reportedly used in a Chinese military exercise in 2022 left the Port of Taichung on Saturday following a four-day port call, the facility's operator said Sunday.

The SCSC Fortune, a 6,550-ton general cargo ship, docked at Taichung Port's pier 14 at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday to unload cargo, before moving to pier 106 on Friday, Taiwan International Ports Corp. said in a statement.

The ship left Taichung Port at 3:29 p.m. Saturday, and is currently waiting in an anchorage area for improved weather conditions to depart Taiwan, the port operator said.

It had received the necessary authorizations from the Maritime Port Bureau, and had not given any cause for concern, according to the port operator.

Taiwan-based journalist Chris Horton drew attention to the vessel's history in a post Friday on X, which quoted a 2022 post by X user Rod Lee.

The quoted post showed images from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, which it said showed the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) special operations forces using the SCSC Fortune as a "mothership" to carry smaller assault craft in its cargo hold.

The post said the PLA unit, the 72nd SOF brigade, had also demonstrated the use of civilian fishing vessels for "insertion" operations in 2021, but it questioned the feasibility of using such vessels in open waters.

"Using SCSC Fortune as a jumping off point is much more practical," the post said, given that it is a commercial vessel that frequently transits in the vicinity of Taiwan.

The ship's presence in Taichung Port in recent days while President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) was on a tour of allied countries in the South Pacific coincided with rumors that China would conduct military exercises while Lai was away to test Taiwan.

That only raised the specter of the ship being a potential threat, as expressed by Taiwanese military affairs writer Wang Chen-ming (王臻明).

Responding to the claim on Facebook, Wang said that if Beijing had really used the anticipated military exercises as a cover for a sneak attack on Taiwan, including the use of commercial vessels, "the Port of Taichung could already be occupied by the PLA."

From the port, Chinese forces could quickly proceed to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base -- the most important air base in central Taiwan -- causing the collapse of the country's air defenses, Wang warned.

According to vesselfinder.com, SCSC Fortune's next destination is Shanghai, where it is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.