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Navy installing
cameras on ships to prevent falls
MEN OVERBOARD: Critics say that the surveillance
cameras are only aimed at protecting the military brass and that safety problems
arise from bad management
By Lo Tien-bin / Staff Reporter
Following a public outcry over a series of incidents involving navy officials
falling overboard, the navy has announced it will install surveillance cameras
on military vessels and have officers work in shifts to monitor surveillance
cameras to prevent further incidents.
The incidents in question involve a non-commissioned officer (NCO) surnamed Lin
(林) in March, 2010, who fell overboard from the Chinchiang-class (錦江級) ship
Hsinchiang and a sailor surnamed Chien (簡) falling from a Lafayette-class ship
in April last year.
The incidents led the families of the victims to question whether the deaths had
been caused by the navy’s negligence.
While the navy maintains that the corporal and NCO failed to take necessary
precautions, the Control Yuan said after an investigation that the navy had
management issues and ordered it to take measures to improve its safety.
However, the measures proved sufficient, because only a month after being
implemented, navy Corporal Chen Ping-chan (陳炳昌) fell overboard from the
Hsinchiang.
According to the higher echelons of the military, the series of incidents has
embarrassed Chief of General Staff Admiral Lin Chen-yi (林鎮夷), who comes from a
navy background, leading Lin to order research on the viability of installing
surveillance cameras on military vessels.
Since the navy concluded its research and deemed the measures viable, 12
Chinchiang-class patrol boats have had surveillance cameras installed, with
additional search-and-rescue boats being outfitted with surveillance cameras as
well.
Navy Command Headquarters Political Warfare Bureau Director Rear Admiral Lin
Tien-liang (林天量) said yesterday that while some ships have already installed
surveillance systems in an effort “to safeguard the safety of the crew, it is
also a test of the efficacy of the systems.”
The surveillance systems are mainly being installed on military vessels of lower
tonnage because these vessels might have a lower seakeeping tolerance, leading
to men being thrown overboard under bad weather conditions, Lin said.
Larger-class vessels, such as Perry and Lafayette, are not yet being considered
for such systems, Lin said.
However, ship crews are doubtful about the measures, saying that the incidents
of seamen falling overboard were caused by poor management of the ship’s crews.
Crew members further complained that the addition of monitoring surveillance
cameras would only add to an already heavy burden of day-to-day ship affairs.
Association for the Promotion of Human Rights in the Military director Chen Pi-e
(陳碧娥), disagreed with the military, saying that the addition of surveillance
systems on the military ships did not solve the problem.
Chen also said that the military has been unable to provide logical and
reasonable explanations to many of the questions the family members of the
victims raised.
Installing surveillance cameras on military ships was “only a move aimed at
protecting the military because it is not able to prevent accidents. The most
important thing that the units must ameliorate their loose organization
structure,” Chen said.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
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