Grounded Indonesian vessel removed from Kenting

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on January 19, 2007. It reports that an Indonesian wood-hulled vessel that was grounded off the Kenting National Park in southern Taiwan in July 2006 was recently removed.

The 40-ton Anak Nusantara was grounded near Eluanbi in southern Taiwan's Pingtung County, after being caught in a typhoon. The hull was seriously damaged and the vessel was unable to continue its voyage to Hong Kong.

According to officials at the national park, although the Indonesian ship was completely removed, the wreckage of another grounded vessel, Greece's freighter the Amorgos, has sunk into the sea off nearby Lungkeng, posing a threat to the marine ecology in the area.

The 35,000-ton Greek freighter, carrying mineral ore from India, was on its way to China when it lost ground and ran onto a reef in January 2001. Officials at the national park will continue to work with scholars to monitor the ecology around Lungkeng and to remove more wreckage.