From Century-Old Port City to Sustainable Sailing: Yang Ming Cultural Foundation Launches Nautical Measures Exhibition！

From Century-Old Port City to Sustainable Sailing: Yang Ming Cultural Foundation Launches Nautical Measures Exhibition！

KEELUNG, TAIWAN — The Yang Ming Cultural Foundation grandly launched its brand-new exhibition, Nautical Measures, on July 14 at the YM Oceanic Culture and Art Museum in Keelung. Through an immersive spatial atmosphere, the exhibition guides the public into the maritime shipping world, offering insights into navigational knowledge, vessel technology, and the daily lives of seafarers.

A key highlight of the venue features sustainable furniture repurposed from retired liferafts of Yang Ming container ships. Additionally, scaled models of various vessels navigating Keelung Port are exquisitely crafted to vividly showcase port operations and ship characteristics. Bringing together private enterprises, cultural institutions, and maritime organizations, the exhibition collaboratively presents maritime transport culture, inviting visitors to rediscover the connections between ports, shipping, cities, and the world from a marine perspective.

The opening ceremony brought together numerous co-organizing partners to witness this cross-disciplinary collaboration, including representatives from the Maritime and Port Bureau (MOTC), Customs Administration (MOF), General Association of Chinese Culture, National Palace Museum, Fleet Branch of the Coast Guard Administration (OAC), Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd., CSBC Corporation Taiwan (Keelung Shipyard), Chang Huo-Yen Memorial Hall, and YES Logistics Corp. The launch was jointly inaugurated by Feng-Ming Tsai, Chairman of Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. (Yang Ming); Tseng-Yu Chiu, Chairperson of the Yang Ming Cultural Foundation; Pei-Lin Chiu, Vice Mayor of Keelung City; Tzu-Wei Tung, Speaker of the Keelung City Council; and Tsung-Huang Hsiao, Director of the National Palace Museum.
Chairman Feng-Ming Tsai stated that in recent years, the company has actively built an energy-efficient fleet to support the 2050 Net-Zero Emissions goal. With LNG dual-fuel container ships entering service this year—reducing greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 20% compared to traditional fuel vessels—a 15,500 TEU LNG dual-fuel container ship model is specially displayed. This showcases Yang Ming’s continuous efforts toward sustainable shipping through enhanced vessel energy efficiency and low-carbon fuels.Tseng-Yu Chiu, Chairperson of the Yang Ming Cultural Foundation, noted that the YM Oceanic Culture and Art Museum is a historic building that has stood in front of Keelung Port for over a century. The Foundation utilizes this historically significant structure to promote maritime culture. Through the Nautical Measures exhibition, it aims to create a platform from a broader maritime cultural perspective to connect the port, introduce Keelung, and foster urban and ocean sustainability.

Starting from historical maps and timelines, the exhibition presents key milestones in Keelung Port's development from 1626 to the present. It also unveils rare historical footage from the 1956 launch ceremony of the SS Hai Kwang, owned by China Merchants Steam Navigation Company (the predecessor of Yang Ming). Through archives, artifacts, and ship models, the exhibition traces the essential history of Taiwan’s shipping industry. Furthermore, the exhibition spotlights ocean workers—seafarers, pilots, divers, logistics personnel, ship repairers, and lighthouse keepers. Through documentary visual recordings and practical tools, visitors step into the actual working environments of these professionals. From 24-hour shift rotations and severe weather challenges at sea to cross-timezone operations and the emotional toll of long-term separation from home, the exhibition reveals the lesser-known stories behind these maritime crafts.To allow audiences to closely explore the innovative designs of green vessels and seafarers' daily routines, the exhibition incorporates Augmented Reality (AR) technology to virtually tour the interior of Yang Ming’s container ship, YM Together. Visitors can learn about the division of labor between the Deck and Engine departments, as well as how container ships safely navigate across oceans to connect global ports and international trade. In the "Ocean and Land" exhibition area, visitors are invited to traverse different scales and perspectives. From temporal elements like "clocks and master-slave clock systems" to spatial signals like "land-sea traffic signs" and daily equipment like "freshwater generators," the exhibition illustrates the subtle nuances between the similar yet distinctly different rhythms of life at sea and on land.

In addition to the new exhibition, the YM Oceanic Culture and Art Museum collaborated with Chunghwa Post to create Rippling Cadence, the first interactive mailbox art installation in both Taiwan and Keelung. The artwork transforms mailing a letter into the imagery of a port's breathing. When visitors drop in a letter, the mailbox emits a ship's horn sound accompanied by shifting light patterns. Surrounded by layers of colorful translucent sheets that resemble soft waves, the installation echoes the maritime atmosphere of Keelung Port, adding a sense of ritual to sending mail. The newly opened "1915 Shop" on the first floor offers a variety of specialty postcards. During the exhibition's opening period, every ticket purchase includes a complimentary limited-edition commemorative postcard co-released by the Yang Ming Cultural Foundation and Keelung Post Office (available while stock lasts). The Nautical Measures exhibition is now open at the YM Oceanic Culture and Art Museum. We cordially invite everyone to view the world through a maritime lens and experience the deep connections among ports, shipping, cities, and people.

• Visitor Information

      Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 – 17:00 (Last ticket sales at 16:00)
      Closed: Mondays, Christmas Eve, Chinese New Year’s Eve, and the First Day of Chinese New Year
      Guided Tours: 09:30, 11:00, 13:30, 15:00
      Exhibition Dates: Now Open
      Location: YM Oceanic Culture and Art Museum (No. 4, Gangxi St., Ren’ai Dist., Keelung City)

• Ticket Prices

      NT$ 150 (General Admission): General public
      NT$ 100 (Concession Ticket): Keelung citizens, students, and group tours of 20 or more
      Free Admission: Seniors aged 65 and above, children aged 6 and under, persons with disabilities and one accompanying caregiver, tour guides, tour leaders, and teachers (valid ID required).

Advising Authority: Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp
Subsidizing Authority: Ministry of Culture
Organizer: Yang Ming Cultural Foundation
Co-organizers: General Association of Chinese Culture, Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd. (Keelung Post Office), CSBC Corporation Taiwan (Keelung Shipyard), Maritime and Port Bureau (MOTC), YES Logistics Corp., Fleet Branch of Coast Guard Administration (OAC), Customs Administration (MOF), National Development Council Archives Administration, Keelung Port Pilots Office
Special Thanks: Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd. (Keelung Post Office), Hi-Li Enterprise Co., Ltd., Chang Huo-Yen Memorial Hall, National Palace Museum