BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) is designing an advanced rescue ship, and plans to commission it around 2021, China Daily reported on Friday.
Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute of CSSC said in a statement that the ship, which has yet to be named, will be tasked with conducting search-and-rescue operations in the South China Sea with the Nanhai Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, according to the newspaper.
It will be powered by two 7,000-kilowatt engines and have a displacement of more than 16,000 metric tons, said the newspaper. It will be 133 meters long and 26 meters wide.
The rescue ship, capable of sailing nearly 30,000 km or operating 90 days in a single operation, will not need to reach port or receive supplies, the institute told the newspaper. Its cruising speed will be 17.5 knots, or 32 km per hour.
The vessel will be able to conduct search, rescue and salvage tasks for ships, aircraft and submarines in very tough conditions, as it can withstand typhoons as strong as 12 on the Beaufort scale, according to the newspaper.
The ship can also be used to tow disabled ships, monitor oil spills, perform deep-water scanning and surveys, extinguish fires or ferry supplies to vessels in emergencies.
The vessel is designed to carry 30 crew members and up to 90 search-and-rescue personnel, and it will be capable of accommodating as many as 200 people rescued from disasters, said the ship's project manager Shi Gongqian
"The ship will be able to operate independently in any ocean worldwide," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "It will have cutting-edge equipment such as rescue submersibles that can dive 300 meters below the surface and remotely operated underwater vehicles or autonomous underwater vehicles capable of reaching a depth of 6,000 meters."
It will also have a landing pad to handle large helicopters, according to Shi.
