Taiwan sees Ghost Ship in its seas
Abandoned cargo ship found on Xijiyu Island.
Maritime Bulletin reports about a deserted cargo ship found yesterday on the northern coast of the island of Xijiyu in Taiwan. Xijiyu is part of the Penghu Islands of the country, located in the Taiwan Strait. Accordingly, Penghu Marine Patrol arrived to inspect the aborted ship only to find no one on board. In fact, at the outset, it is reported that they were unable to identify the ship, possibly because they couldn’t get on board.
Speculation was rife about what happened to the ship. One possibility was that it went adrift in stormy conditions from its anchorage at some other location. Another likelihood was that the ship was being towed for scrappage; on that journey, it may have broken its towage.
Eventually, today’s update confirms that the derelict cargo ship has been identified as the 1991-built HM Foundation, carrying a Philippines flag. It is owned by the Hua Ming Shipping Group, also from the Philippines. Positional data from AIS confirms the ship’s last location on the 31st of December 2020 to be in the Sulu Sea.
Below is a video showing the cargo ship adrift, with some rather daunting music playing in the background, along with inputs from Taiwanese authorities:
