Direct Cross-Strait Marine Transport Set for Mid-December
Direct marine transportation between Taiwan and Mainland China will be inaugurated on December 15. The service will be governed by criteria for the qualification of direct cross-strait shippers, and examination standards, as set forth in the Regulations Governing the Approval and Administration of Direct Cross-Strait Sea Transport Between the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area, which has been recently revised by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) in order to implement the Cross-Strait Sea Transport Agreement that was signed during the second Chiang-Chen Meeting.
The MOTC notes that under the consensus reached by the
two sides, shippers that operate a direct cross-strait marine passenger or cargo
service must have capital from Taiwan or Mainland China (either as a sole
proprietorship or joint venture); their ships must be registered in Taiwan,
China, or Hong Kong, or be ships registered under flags of convenience
(foreign-registered ships operated with capital from Taiwan or China) that
engaged in shipping between Taiwan and China from offshore shipping centers, in
indirect container transportation, or gravel shipping prior to implementation of
the Regulations. Ships registered under flags of convenience that engaged in
other types of cross-strait transportation must obtain permission from the MOTC
before sailing directly between ports in Taiwan and China. The Regulations also
stipulate that the MOTC may decide to issue permits based on market needs and
shipping capacity.
To facilitate the inauguration of direct sea
transportation across the Taiwan Strait, the MOTC issued an announcement on
October 7 authorizing the harbor bureaus of Keelung, Taichung, Kaohsiung, and
Hualien to handle related application procedures.
