2020/05/29
The Naval Command issued a press release stating its response to external concerns about the "subsequent disposal of the LST-201 tank landing ship" (May 29, 2020)
In response to external concerns about the "subsequent disposal of the LST-201tank landing ship", the Naval Command stated the following today (29):
1. The Navy has always attached great importance to the inheritance of military history. However, after the LST-201 tank landing ship was decommissioned, it was impossible for the Navy to appropriate the budget or increase manpower according to the law to perform the required maintenance work for the ship.
2. The Naval Command has referred to the establishment of the US Warship Museum, so that the military ship can be received and maintained by civilian organizations or local governments. Therefore, application for free grants of display and use of the ship was then opened to local governments and civil organizations. In fact, the LST-201 tank landing ship has already been decommissioned for 10 years. Once, a local government had previously applied to borrow the ship for display, but the application did not work out due to certain reasons. Since the number of berths at the current dock with the Navy is limited and the ship was berthed at Cijin dock for a long time, with its hull in poor condition, the Naval Command but to put the ship for open bidding according to the law to prevent it from imposing a navigation risk that obstructs Kaohsiung port. All of the money received from the bidding will be surrendered to the national treasury, and the Navy has properly preserved 32 cultural relics and images of the LST-201 tank landing ship, which are now included into the collections of the Military History Museum of the Navy.
3. The bidding operation on the LST-201 tank landing ship was completed on May 14th. However, the Naval Command places great importance on recent concerns and suggestions regarding its disposal of the LST-201tank landing ship and has thus suspended signing the contract with the winning bidder. On the other hand, Kaohsiung City Government is currently planning to establish a maritime museum with the LST-201 tank landing ship, and the Naval Command has expressed its gratitude and is delighted to see that the project can be successfully furnished.