DEFAULT OPTION:The vice minister of national defense said the ministry still preferred to have Ching Fu complete the minesweepers, or commissioning could take until 2023
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 24, 2017
By: Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) could dissolve its minesweeper contract with
Vice Minister of National Defense Admiral Pu Tze-chun, left, Maritime Strategic Command Director Lee Tsung-hsiao and other officials yesterday attend a Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting at the legislature in Taipei. Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
the scandal-prone Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船), which could delay delivery of the first vessel to 2023, Vice Minister of National Defense Admiral Pu Tze-chun (蒲澤春) said yesterday.
Ching Fu was awarded a contract to build six minesweepers for NT$35.8 billion (US$1.2 billion) as part of the nation’s domestic warship-building program and seeking a new contractor could lead to substantial delays to the minesweeper program, the MND said.
Last month, Ching Fu became the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office on allegation of financial fraud, raising fears that the shipbuilder could go under.
The Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday asked officials from the Ministry of Finance, Financial Supervisory Commission and MND to report on the state of the minesweeper project. [FULL STORY]