Taiwan Fines and Deports Fishing Boat Captain Who Damaged Subsea Cables
Taiwan continues to carefully monitor its subsea communications cables and other connections after a series of incidents involving ships. In the latest case, the Coast Guard Administration reports Chinese national fishing boat captain has been deported after paying a fine and admitting to his guilt in damaging a cable.
The incident took place in October 2025 and began with Chunghwa Telecom reporting an outage on its Taiwan-Malaysia Submarine cable. Several hours later, the Coast Guard located a Chinese fishing vessel that was approximately 4.2 nautical miles offshore. They took the captain, a Chinese national identified as Wu, into custody for questioning. The captain reportedly later confessed to causing the damage to the subsea cable.
During an appearance in court, the Taiwanese officials argued the captain was experienced and should have been aware of the location of the submarine cables. They said the cables were clearly marked on electronic nautical charts and in a no-anchor zone.
The fishing boat named Minlianyu 60138 reported however, proceeded to deploy its nets in the area. They became entangled in an abandoned anchor and then damaged the submarine cable.
The court determined the captain to be negligent in the incident. Taking into consideration his admissions, the court sentenced him in December to three months in jail. The jail time, however, could be commuted with the payment of fines and restitution to the telecom company.
Captain Wu reported arranged for the payment of approximately $2,850 to the court. In addition, a payment of approximately $7,900 was made to Chunghwa Telecom. The Mainland Affairs Council approved the immediate deportation of Captain Wu, which was carried out on January 8.
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The Coast Guard Administration says the law was being followed, and recognized Wu’s admission of guilt. The Chinese captain of another cargo ship, which damaged a subsea cable in February 2025, however, has been sentenced to three years in prison after the court determined he had intentionally damaged another subsea cable.
Taiwan officials highlighted last year that they were increasing the monitoring and patrols of critical offshore infrastructure after several incidents. Of particular concern, they said, were old Chinese-owned ships that are registered in international flag of convenience states.