Nine-Level Seas Halt Ferry Services as Coast Guard Evacuates Critically Ill Woman from Xiaoliuqiu

With ferry services suspended for four days, a coast guard patrol boat became the only available way to take an 84-year-old woman with acute pneumonia from Xiaoliuqiu to Taiwan’s main island.

The woman had a high fever that would not subside, and doctors at the local health center determined that she urgently needed hospital treatment. Strong winds and rough seas linked to the Sadler typhoon’s outer circulation made regular passenger and medical boats unable to operate. Winds reached force 5 to 6, with gusts up to force 9 and waves measuring three to four meters.

The Coast Guard Administration received the emergency call at 8:30 a.m. from Pingtung County’s health authorities and dispatched the PP-3517 patrol vessel two minutes later. The crew reached Baisha Fishing Port on Xiaoliuqiu at 9:35 a.m., took the patient, a family member and a nurse aboard, and headed for Donggang.

The vessel arrived at the Donggang inspection pier at 10:30 a.m. Coast guard personnel helped move the patient ashore, where an ambulance transferred her to Donggang Antai Hospital for continued treatment. The Fifth Coast Guard Team said protecting lives remains a central mission and that residents of outlying islands can call the agency’s 118 service line for emergency assistance.