A passenger ferry travelling from Donggang in Pingtung to Xiaoliuqiu ran aground in the navigation channel at midday, and after three and a half hours all 146 people on board made it ashore safely, in what turned out to be a scare with no harm done.

• The Lan Bai No. 1 encountered an ebbing tide and a silted-up channel as it left Donggang harbour, and became stuck fast in the channel.
• The five crew members and 141 passengers on board were trapped, but everyone ended up safe and no one was injured.
• The rescue hit repeated setbacks: heavy seas prevented coast guard vessels from approaching, an attempt to tow the ferry with a rubber raft failed, the tow line came loose twice, and the automatic buoyant smoke system was set off by accident, scattering pink distress smoke.
• In the end a tugboat, helped by the rising tide, pulled the vessel free, and the operator switched ferries to take the passengers on to Xiaoliuqiu.
• Days of torrential rain washing silt into the channel were the main cause; the route had only recently been suspended for several days because of southwesterly winds.

Outlook: The Pingtung County Government will begin dredging the channel tomorrow morning, and the operator must submit a marine incident report to clarify the cause. The accident has been reported to the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board.