Two governmental agencies in Taiwan are considering making the use of Republic of China (ROC)-flagged vessels mandatory for certain offshore wind farm construction activities.
The Bureau of Energy (BOE) in Ministry of Economic Affairs is expected to convene a meeting of developers, contractors and operators later this month to solicit information on this issue. Meanwhile, the Maritime Port Bureau (MPB) in the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is also considering restrictions on the use of non-ROC flag vessels for offshore wind construction
The BOE expects that a “maritime construction consulting platform” will develop out of the meeting and is considering appointing certain industry experts who would issue opinions whether ROC flag vessels meeting OWF construction specifications are available in the market.
As such, the ‘Regulations on Entry Applications for Non-ROC Flagged Construction Vessels’ may be amended to mandate any foreign flag vessel coming to Taiwan for offshore wind construction activities to first apply for a classification survey from Taiwan’s CR Classification Society.
Additionally, the MPB may require that developers and contractors use ROC flag construction vessels unless no qualified ROC flag vessels are available.
Finally, the MPB may require that certain offshore support vessels, survey vessels and cable laying vessels be ROC flag vessels, as the MPB believes that a sufficient number of these types of vessel are available in Taiwan.
Currently, Taiwanese law does not require that any offshore construction activities be conducted only by ROC flag vessels.
