Taiwan’s coast guard suspects a Chinese-owned freighter of severing a critical undersea telecom cable off the island’s northern coast. The incident mirrors security challenges faced by Baltic nations over the past year, highlighting vulnerabilities in global underwater infrastructure.
On January 3, at approximately 12:40 PM, Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom informed the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) that a subsea communications cable near Keelung had been severed.
The CGA deployed a patrol vessel to intercept the Hong Kong-owned freighter Shunxin-39 (also known as Xing Shun 39, IMO 8358427), which was near Yehliu at the time.
Although coastguard officials managed to establish radio contact with the ship’s captain and conduct an external inspection, they were unable to board the vessel due to rough seas.
Furthermore, international law prohibited the ship’s seizure for further investigation as too much time had elapsed since the incident.
Furthermore, Retired US Air Force Colonel Ray Powell highlighted that the ship responsible for damaging Taiwan’s submarine cable appears to have operated under at least two names (Shunxing39 and Xingshun39), flown two flags (Cameroon and Tanzania), and used six different Maritime Mobile Service Identities (MMSI) while traveling between Taiwan’s Keelung and South Korea’s Busan over the past six months.
Ownership records indicate that while the ship is registered in Cameroon, it belongs to Jie Yang Trading Limited, a Hong Kong-based company headed by Guo Wenjie, a Chinese national.
In response to the incident, Taiwan has requested assistance from South Korean authorities. The suspected vessel is reportedly headed to Busan, South Korea, and is expected to arrive soon.
“Since it was not possible for us to question the captain, we have asked the South Korean authorities to help with the investigation at the ship’s next port of destination,” a Taiwan Coast Guard official said.
Despite the damage, Chunghwa Telecom, part of an international consortium that operates the US$500 million Trans-Pacific Express cable, successfully rerouted traffic to other cables, ensuring uninterrupted service. The cable, operational since 2008, links East Asia to the United States’ West Coast.
