Taipei Times
Date: Aug 14, 2017
By: Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The coast guard is to retire up to 130 aging seafaring vessels in its fleet over the next 10 years, an official said on Saturday, citing a plan submitted by the Coast Guard Administration to the Ministry of the Interior.

Set to coincide with the purchase of 141 new vessels, the plan would save maintenance costs and insurance expenses for the coast guard, the official said.

The vessels to be phased out include two 3,000-ton ships, four 2,000-ton ships, six 1,000-ton ships, eight 500-ton ships and a large number of patrol boats, the official said.

Although most of the coast guard’s bigger ships are not particularly old, their high malfunction rates have led to high costs for upkeep and insurance premiums, the official said.    [FULL  STORY]