Waves from Super Typhoon Champi toppled a 50-meter crane into Fugang Fishing Port in Taitung County on Friday, leaving the harbor entrance blocked and cutting off service to Green Island and Orchid Island. The wreckage reportedly sank across the mouth of the port after repeated wave impacts, turning a working harbor into an obstruction in a matter of minutes.
Wang Yi-kai said neither passenger ferries nor cargo ships could get in or out, a shutdown that matters immediately for the islands that depend on the route for people, supplies and freight. Around 9:40 a.m., waves of about 6 meters, or 20 feet, hit the crane hard enough to bring down the structure, while reports from the wider Taitung coast put the surf as high as 10 meters, or 33 feet.
The collapse came as video from Fugang showed breakers smashing the breakwater and spray surging over the harbor wall on Friday, October 23. Formosa News described the crane as 50 meters tall and weighing about 250 tons, which helps explain why the impact could turn a single strike into a port-wide blockage. The storm had already pushed dangerous seas along the coast and forced people to deal with a system that was still punishing the shoreline even after slipping from its super-typhoon peak.
There is one thing the footage cannot settle on its own: the height of the spray. No official measurement of the maximum surge has been verified, and the camera angle makes the blast look larger than anything a quick estimate could confirm. What is clear is the result. The crane is down, the entrance is obstructed, and the port cannot function normally until the wreckage is removed.
Wu Che-yuan said removal has to wait for safer conditions because the wind is too strong and the waves are too big. That leaves the key question not about whether the harbor was damaged, but how long Green Island and Orchid Island will be without normal ferry and cargo access while crews wait for the sea to ease. Elsewhere in Taiwan, the storm has already been linked to one death, 163 injuries, thousands of evacuations and nearly 1,000 canceled flights, a reminder that Champi is still dictating the pace of life even after the worst of its winds passed.
