According to a report by Taiwan's "United News Network," Taiwan media disclosed an accident on the Taiwan Navy's "Sea Tiger" diesel-electric submarine on 21 June. At that time, during the mission, the submarine had an accident that caused six people to fall overboard, three of whom are still missing. Now, for the first time, Taiwan's military has disclosed to the outside world the details of the incident.
Wu Liping, chief of staff of Taiwan's "Navy Command," restored the scene of the incident to the Taiwan defense department at a news conference held by Taiwan's defense department today. According to him, the investigation showed that the "Sea Tiger" boat was diving at that time, and the crew on board heard an abnormal sound, so the submarine surfaced and sent people to the deck to inspect it. During the inspection, it was found that the wooden cover of the life-saving buoy on the boat had fallen off, causing the buoy to float out of the boat with a 300-metre-long steel cable. In order to prevent the steel cable from getting caught in the propulsion propeller, more personnel were sent to the deck for disposal. Wu Liping pointed out that a similar situation occurred in 1997 when the buoy body was made of wood, like the cover, and was fixed to the inside of the submarine by buckles on both sides. According to the relevant regulations, such equipment needs to be inspected regularly. After the "Sea Tiger" returned to Hong Kong for inspection, the two buckles were in normal condition and were not manually opened.
Once the situation was confirmed, the "Sea Tiger" boat sent 4 people to the deck and tried to use the manpower winch ** buoy. However, due to the shape of the submarine itself, the deck walkway from the enclosure to the buoy storage area is less than 1 meter wide, and it gradually narrows to the sides of the bow and stern. Just as the personnel were trying to ** the steel cable, a wave suddenly appeared, "slapping the personnel off the side". They hung on the side only with safety line support. A six-person life-saving group was immediately dispatched to the deck, and a total of 11 people went out of the cabin and onto the deck. The fall of people into the water did not occur at the same time, and only 4 people initially came out of the cabin to dispose of the life-saving buoy. However, after encountering the swell, he was once hung on the safety cable buckle on the side of the gunwale, causing the follow-up 6 people to also fall into the water, which clearly shows that some people in the "lifesaving group" fell into the sea by themselves because they failed to save people.
Wu Liping also pointed out that at the time of the incident, everyone was wearing life jackets and safety rigging, which met the standard disposal measures. However, so far, the three missing persons have not been found.
According to the analysis, this incident highlighted the problem of the narrow working space on the external deck of the submarine. The space for personnel operation is restricted, and the emergency situation has become an important cause of the accident. This also reminds the relevant authorities of the need for more careful consideration and planning for submarine operations and response to emergencies to ensure the safety of naval operators.
This incident is a major lesson for the Taiwan Navy, which needs to be more transparent to the outside world and provide more security measures for the external operation of submarines. This is also an important reference for dealing with similar situations in the future.