Taipei Times
Date: Oct 16, 2015
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter
Military officials downplayed damage done to a naval frigate when it ran
Coast Guard Administration patrol vessel Tainan sails in waters off the Pratas Islands on Sept. 17. Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration
aground while sailing out of Zuoying Port (左營港) in Kaohsiung, scuttling its mission to the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) in the South China Sea.
The incident occurred last week, but details only emerged after Minister of National Defense Kao Kuang-chi (高廣圻) was questioned in the legislature over the past two days.
According to military officials, the Tzu I struck a concrete breakwater to the south of the Zuoying naval base section on the evening of Tuesday last week.
The 4,100-tonne Tzu I with the Magong Port-based (馬公) 146th Fleet is the fifth of eight Taiwan-built Cheng Kung-class frigates based on the Oliver Hazard Perry-class of US frigates. [FULL STORY]
