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full screen A Taiwan Coast Guard vessel in the foreground. A Chinese coast guard ship can be seen behind. The photo was taken in December. Photo: Taiwan Coast Guard/AP/TT
The Chinese-owned cargo ship suspected of damaging an undersea cable off Taiwan has stopped transmitting its position on the high seas, according to sources.
The Shunxing 39 was on its way to South Korea after it was briefly detained by Taiwan’s coast guard on Friday on suspicion of dragging its anchor over the cable northeast of the island.
But on Tuesday, a Coast Guard source said the ship’s identification signal, used to broadcast a vessel’s position, had been turned off.
– It is illegal, but it has left our jurisdiction, the source told AFP.
Taiwan has asked South Korean authorities for help in the investigation of the cable break, as the coast guard was unable to board the Shunxing 39 due to severe weather. According to the source, there is currently no “clear evidence” that the ship has damaged the cable.
The Cameroon-flagged Shunxing 39 was stopped by the Coast Guard on Friday after Taiwanese telecommunications company Chunghwa Telecom reported damage to a communications cable.