Chinese ship captain handed 3-year sentence over severed telecoms cable

Tainan, June 12 (CNA) Tainan District Court on Thursday sentenced the Chinese captain of a Togolese-registered freighter that snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan and Penghu in February to three years in prison for intentionally damaging the cable.

The captain of Hong Tai 58, a Togolese-registered ship flying under a flag of convenience, surnamed Wang (王), was handed the sentence for undersea cable sabotage in contravention of the Telecommunications Management Act, the court said in a statement Thursday.

The court decision is subject to appeal.

The freighter was boarded and its Chinese crew detained by Taiwanese authorities on Feb. 25 after Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) received a report from Chunghwa Telecom that its Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 submarine fiber optic cable had been severed, according to court documents.

The Hong Tai's electronic navigational chart indicated the vessel was anchored 5 nautical miles (9.26 kilometers) off the Beimen coast in Tainan near the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 cable.

The submarine cable, used for both telephone and broadband communication, is located in a government-designated no-anchor zone where vessels are prohibited from anchoring, according to the court.

The Hong Tai, operated by Wang with seven other crew members, had lingered in the area where the cable was located from Feb. 22 to 3 a.m. Feb. 25, according to court documents citing the CGA.

During this period, Wang ordered his men to drop anchor in the area and sail in a back and forth manner around the No. 3 cable, ultimately causing a complete break in the cable and disrupting communications, according to the district court.

After questioning by authorities over the matter, Wang admitted to giving the order to anchor but denied intentionally damaging the cable, claiming it was simply negligence.

However, the court found that Wang had deliberately anchored in the restricted area and allowed the vessel to drift, resulting in the cable being severed due to anchor dragging.

As a result, Chunghwa Telecom incurred over NT$17 million (US$578,572) in repair costs and more than NT$1.8 million in shipping agent fees. Wang was sentenced to three years in prison, according to the court.

Since the Taiwan-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed in late February, Wang has been detained and held incommunicado. On April 11, the Tainan District Prosecutors Office indicted him, transferring the case to the Tainan District Court, which upheld his detention. The other crew members were not indicted due to insufficient evidence and were deported.

Under Article 72 of the telecommunications law, individuals who are caught endangering the normal functioning of a submarine cable are subject to a term of imprisonment of at least one year but not more than seven years, and can also be fined up to NT$10 million (US$339,958).