Foreign freighter being investigated for suspected damaging of undersea cable

Taipei, Jan. 4 (CNA) A Cameroon-registered freighter is being investigated for possibly damaging an undersea cable in waters off the northeastern coast of Taiwan, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said Saturday.

The Second Maritime Patrol Flotilla (Tamsui) received a report from Chunghwa Telecom at 12:40 p.m. Friday that its four-core undersea cable near Yehliu in New Taipei was damaged, the CGA said in a news release.

The telecom operator suspected that the issue was likely caused by the Cameroon-registered "Shunxin39" freighter, which was operating in that area at the time, the CGA said.

A Keelung Coast Guard patrol boat was dispatched to the scene at 4:40 p.m. the same day and found the cargo vessel seven nautical miles (12.964 kilometers) north of Yehliu, it said.

According to the administration, the Shunxin39 was ordered to return to waters off the coast of Keelung port to be investigated, and that relevant findings of its alleged involvement would be handed over to prosecutors for further investigation.

Citing Chunghwa Telecom, the CGA said domestic communications were not affected as the damaged underground cable was backed up by other equipment.

Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's largest integrated telecom service provider, told CNA that when the issue occurred, communication services were rerouted to other international undersea cable stations, and all customer services were fully restored to normal within a short period of time.