New Lifeboat in Liuqiu Island Returns to Factory for Repair|救護船擦撞碼頭 "慈航輪"進廠檢修

Little Liuqiu is the only township in Taiwan with ambulance ships. A new ship was just inaugurated a month ago, only to be found with cracks and scratches on it. Officials admitted there were some minor collisions since the pilot was not familiar with the new and bigger ship, which had returned for repair.


Barely a month after the new lifeboat set sail off the shore of Little Liuqiu Island, the hull has shown multiple scratches and cracks due to minor collisions.

The relatively high traffic volume and the fact that the ship's pilot wasn't very familiar with the ship were the reasons why the ship hit the harbor while docking.

Little Liuqiu is the only township in Taiwan with ambulance ships. The previous ambulance ship had been in service for 22 years before it was retired in November of 2017. The Pingtung County government and the central government collectively invested NT$ 50 million to build a new ambulance ship, which set sail on March 2. The new boat is designed to withstand strong wind and wave and is capable to navigate through low light and foggy conditions. However, the boat is now headed back to the factory for repair.

On top of repairing the damage, we are also planning to do emergency check-ups on different parts of the ship.

According to the numbers of the county government, the Little Liuqiu Island sees over 100 million visits per year, of whom around 1,500 needs medical service. The local health bureau said that they have asked industry professionals to take care of the new ambulance ship and to enforce training on all crew members in order to avoid future accidents.