Rumors surfaced today (August 22nd) about a major accident involving the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Type 093 “Shang-class” nuclear-powered submarine in the Taiwan Strait. The military fan page “Taiwan ADIZ” stated that “continuous ELT signals have been detected on the 406MHz radio frequency channel for several hours.” Some online sources even suggested that all crew members on board have perished.
In response, Taiwan’s military said the news is being verified. However, Taiwanese media “Ling Media” quoted sources from the Taiwanese military saying that when submarines from any nation are on underwater missions, there are set schedules and locations for reporting back. “If the reporting time is exceeded by a significant margin, the PLA would definitely dispatch ships and anti-submarine aircraft to search the originally scheduled route and related areas of the Type 093 submarine,” they commented. However, so far, the Taiwanese military has not detected any such actions by the PLA.
Taiwanese media “Zhongtian News Network” claimed to have reached out to the Taiwan Navy Command, to which the command responded, “We are aware of the situation, and the information is currently being verified. Further updates will be provided when available.”
Taiwanese military commentator Zhang Jing posted on August 22nd, pointing out that submarine researcher H I Sutton had posted about the serious accident involving the PLA Navy’s Type 093 “Shang-class” submarine near the Taiwan Strait. Zhang remarked, “How can we determine the veracity of these claims? One would need to observe the movements of military forces from Taiwan, the PLA, the US, and even Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force in and around the specific areas of Taiwan to see if there’s any reaction, be it verification, monitoring, or rushing to aid.”
Taiwanese military spokesperson Sun Lifang commented that so far, he hasn’t heard any confirmation regarding these rumors, and there’s no other official statement to verify them. However, he emphasized that the Taiwanese military continuously and meticulously monitors the sea and air dynamics around the Taiwan Strait through joint intelligence monitoring measures. It’s a task they take very seriously and are always engaged in.