The submarine Haikun has been undocking and is expected to go to sea for testing in the near future

The submarine Haikun has been undocking and is expected to go to sea for testing in the near future. (File photo)

[Reporter Hong Dinghong/Report from Kaohsiung] After the submarine Haikun completed sea testing on July 30, it was affected by heavy rain in Kaohsiung and was unable to go to sea for testing. It will be docked and adjusted for about 10 days at the end of August. Recently, ship fans witnessed it undocking and returning to Taiwan Ship Pier 91. According to Ji Dongyun, chairman of the Taiwan Safety Development Association, Haikun will soon go to sea for testing.

Looking back at the sea survey process of the Haikun in the past three months, after it was completed on June 4, it did not leave port until July 23, with an interval of more than 1.5 months, and then intensively left port on July 27, July 29, and July 30. It was originally estimated that the final stage of deeper sea testing and overnight sea endurance testing would begin in August. However, due to weather conditions, it has been unable to leave the port. It has now been more than 1.5 months.

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However, just as the Haikun was left with only the last two stages of sea testing, the key Taiwan Shipbuilding Haichang Factory suddenly experienced major personnel changes, including factory director Liu Siwei being transferred to project manager, and deputy factory director Zheng Chaoliang being promoted. Wu Kunda, deputy executive director of the Nationally Made Submarine Project Office, was transferred to deputy director of the Haichang Factory, and Luo Zhihong, deputy director of the Design Department, was promoted to executive director of the nationally built submarine project office.

Ji Dongyun analyzed that the Haikun is about to be delivered. Such personnel adjustments mean that the domestic submarine plan is on track, and it also highlights that Chairman Chen Zhenghong has improved his grasp of Taiwanese ships. However, as the follow-up domestic submarines No. 2 and No. 3, 50% of the initial payment of 2 billion has been frozen. The condition for unfreezing is that the Haikun must complete all sea tests. Therefore, the pressure on the Taiwanese ship and the navy is very high, but it must be based on what Defense Minister Gu Lixiong said, "Safety must be the first priority."