KAOHSIUNG (TVBS News) — Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai visited Kaohsiung on Tuesday (July 25) to oversee the salvage mission of the Palau-flagged container ship "Angel," which sank four days earlier. The vessel carried 1,349 empty containers, of which 776 sank along with the ship, while 573 drifted into the sea.
To prevent oil leaks, the Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC) deployed a 720-meter oil boom and a 130-meter oil absorbent boom around the sunken ship to contain the oil spill. Divers sealed the leak points on the hull. Today, divers inspected the area again and found no remaining pipeline leaks.
Taiwan's first pollution control vessel, "MAILIAO MARINE," arrived on July 24 at Kaohsiung Port and is scheduled to commence an oil removal operation with drones today. TIPC reported that they have already processed 303 empty containers, but 110 remain stranded along coastal areas awaiting processing. TIPC aims to lift all the drifting containers from the sea by tonight, either by lifting them from offshore or towing them to calmer waters.
With a typhoon approaching, Wang urged the relevant authorities to expedite the container retrieval. He expressed concern that the long waves associated with the storm might hinder the salvage mission. The Angel currently rests at 37 meters, while expert assessments suggest that the longest waves caused by the typhoon may only reach a depth of 10 meters. Despite the waves posing no direct threat, Wang emphasized the need to plan for worst-case scenarios and make necessary emergency preparations.