Taiwan’s first locally built submarine faced new doubts over whether the vessel could meet a November delivery deadline to the island’s navy as it had yet to begin long-awaited sea trials, with a new schedule yet to be confirmed.
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The Hai Kun, or Narwhal, part of Taiwan’s Indigenous Defence Submarine (IDS) programme, had originally been slated to begin Sea Acceptance Tests (SAT) in April. But there had been no sign of progress by the end of the month, despite earlier pledges from the military that testing would proceed on schedule.
Former navy captain Kuo Hsi, who served as a construction adviser on the project, said during a recent live-streaming on social media that repeated piping system failures had resulted in compartment flooding, forcing foreign testing teams to suspend work.
“Pipes have broken or been pulled loose again,” Kuo said recently on a social media political talk show. “Do you know how many times water has rushed into the Hai Kun?”
He added that the vessel had not yet completed its Harbour Acceptance Test, a prerequisite for proceeding to sea. “There are more than 4,000 checkpoints for the Integrated Platform Management System [IPMS], but fewer than 400 have been tested,” Kuo said on the programme.
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“So far, not even 10 per cent. And you think it can go to sea in April? How?”