TAIPEI, July 8 (AP) -- Taiwan has issued a typhoon warning for ships operating east and northeast of the island as Typhoon Ewiniar approached, the third such system to form in the western Pacific this year.

The Central Weather Bureau issued the warning late Friday as Ewiniar continued its northerly course, about 600 kilometers (378 miles) off of Taiwan's east coast.

The storm was expected to be located about 300 kilometers (185 miles) southwest of Okinawa, Japan, by early Saturday evening, the bureau said.

Typhoons and tropical storms frequently hit Taiwan in the summer and fall, triggering deadly flash floods and landslides on the crowded, mountainous island.