- Chinese Navy flexes its marine muscles
Pune, India. 27 May 2021. Silence is not China’s USP on any front hence it was not a surprise when it decided to tell the world that they know how to rescue a submarine and just performed a demonstration for the world to see in the Yellow Sea. But ofcourse they didn’t send invites to the navies of the world to witness.
A naval search and rescue flotilla under the PLA Northern Theatre Command, together with surface ships, helicopter units, and local maritime search and rescue forces, carried out a 74-hour uninterrupted multi-course drill in actual combat context in waters of the Yellow Sea as scheduled from May 17 to 20, aiming to test the troops’ ability to perform submarine rescue mission and emergency treatment.
PRC’s Ministry of National Defence informed, “During the drill, the application of multi-type submarine rescue equipment has highlighted the breakthroughs made in the troops’ core rescue capabilities.”
A total of one helicopter and nine vessels, including submarine rescue vessel Hongzehu, were jointly dispatched to participate in the drill.
The Ministry expressed that “Submarine rescue is a global problem worth solving and also the highlight of this drill.” The joint search and rescue fleet carried out a search for a simulated disabled submarine under the water in late night. The divers on the Ship Hongzehu carried delivery tube to conduct supply and exhaust ventilation and dropped life supplies for the wrecked submarine.
On the next day, the sea tugboat BeiTuo 739 carrying a motorized submarine rescue chamber docked with the target and the simulated wounded personnel were able to be treated in time.
