Ship, Chinese crew detained after Penghu undersea cable severed

Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) A Togolese-registered vessel and its Chinese crew have been detained after a submarine communications cable linking Taiwan and Penghu was severed Tuesday.

Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said it dispatched the PP-10079 patrol and rescue vessel at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday to monitor the "Hong Tai" freighter, which was anchored 6 nautical miles northwest of Jiangjun Fishing Port in Tainan.

The CGA said it immediately issued broadcasts ordering the vessel to leave.

At around 3 a.m., the CGA received a report from the partially state-owned Chunghwa Telecom informing it that the "Taiwan-Penghu No. 3" submarine fiber optic cable had been severed.

The CGA said that it then began attempting to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage.

However, due to the difference in height between the two vessels preventing CGA personnel from boarding the Hong Tai, the CGA said it had to send the Cijin offshore patrol vessel and the PP-10059 patrol vessel to the scene to assist with boarding and detention.

The Hong Tai, which the CGA said was funded by "Chinese capital," was later brought to Anping Harbor where it and its eight crew, all Chinese nationals, were detained, pending investigation by Tainan district prosecutors.

When PP-10079 radioed the freighter, its crew said the ship's name was "Hong Tai 168," which contradicted the name shown by its Automatic Identification System "Hong Tai 58," the CGA said.

The CGA added that the ship's name would be verified by an upcoming investigation.

According to the CGA, the freighter had been loitering near the broken cable at a distance of about 925 meters from the cable since 7 p.m. on Feb. 22.

Communications transmitted by the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 Cable have been rerouted to other cables to ensure no disruption, Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs said.

The CGA said Tuesday's incident may be "gray zone" activity by China, adding it would work closely with prosecutors to get to the bottom of the incident.

Gray zone activity refers to actions that fall between traditional notions of war and peace. These activities typically involve ambiguous or nontraditional methods that aim to achieve strategic objectives without overtly crossing the threshold into open conflict.