The environmental seminar, held at the National Kinmen Institute of Technology (NKIT), discussed response strategies for possible oil spill emergencies in the Taiwan Strait, which has become one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

Speaking at the opening session, Fu Kun-cheng, director of the NKIT's ocean affairs research center, said that ships plying the Taiwan Strait travel in a north-south direction and that the number of vessels on the route has been increasing steadily since the opening of direct cross-strait shipping links.

"Against this backdrop, the probability of marine accidents has increased, and we are holding this seminar as the first step toward cross-strait cooperation in the field of environmental protection, " Fu said.

He expressed hopes that the seminar will spur the establishment of a cross-strait cooperative mechanism for oil spill prevention and emergency response.

For his part, Chen Hsien-heng, director of the Environmental Protection Administration's (EPA's) Water Quality Protection Bureau, noted that five vessels were grounded in waters off Taiwan's southwestern coast during the onslaught of Typhoon Morakot in early August.

"Fortunately, there were no serious oil spills from those ships, but the episode should serve as a warning. With an average of 1,000 ships now plying the Taiwan Strait each day, we should be better prepared to tackle oil spills and other emergencies," Chen said.

The two-day seminar has brought together more than 120 marine pollution experts and scholars from Taiwan and China to exchange views and experiences in addressing oil spill issues. The 40-member Chinese delegation is headed by Li Yi, deputy chairman of the ship pollution commission under the Chinese Institute of Navigation.

Seventeen papers on oil slick legislation on both sides, notable oil spills, emergency response strategies and technologies, and possible cross-strait cooperative programs for oil spill response will be presented and discussed at the symposium.

(By Ni Kuo-yen and Sofia Wu)