On May 29th, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) Director General Tsai Ming-yen said that a Type 093/Shang-class nuclear attack submarine had “some issues” in the Taiwan Strait last year.
Tsai made the statements during a meeting at the Legislative Yuan after a lawmaker asked him if the NSB had any updates regarding the submarine.
Tsai said that the NSB is aware of the topic and that the assessment suggests that it was “probably not a serious shipwreck, but some accidents did occur.” Furthermore, Tsai said that the bureau continued to track the submarine’s position after the event.
Tsai’s comments are related to a U.K. news outlet saying a Shang-class submarine allegedly became trapped in an anti-submarine net in the Yellow Sea. The newspaper cited a classified U.K. report that said the crew died after the ship’s oxygen system failed.
Reports also emerged that families were unable to contact their military relatives and that the fleet commander was being punished. Furthermore, the United States also reportedly sent P-8 maritime reconnaissance airplane to the area.
