China to built worlds largest Marine Surveillance Ship China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) has signed contracts to build a 10,000 ton marine surveillance ship, which would be the largest such vessel in the world. The current owner of the world’s largest marine surveillance ship is Japan, Chinas rival in a bitter territorial dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. Japan’s Shikishima , which was commissioned in 1992, displaces 7,175 tons. The plans for a new maritime surveillance vessel are part of larger build up of China’s fleet. Back in 2012, Xinhua reported that China was planning to add 36 patrol vessels to the China Marine Surveillance fleet by mid-2014. In the period from 1999 to 2011, according to Xinhua, China added 13 new 1,000 ton patrol ships and five helicopters to the same fleet. The building of a new maritime surveillance ship will receive less attention than the reports that China is constructing #Second_Aircraft_Carrier, but the patrol vessel might be more important in the long run. Chinas endgame for the disputed regions in the South China Sea and East China Sea relies less on the PLA Navy than on China Marine Surveillance (CMS). Maritime patrols are a major part of this effort, and the new ship will increase Chinas surveillance capabilities. Whether the new ship is deployed in the East China Sea or the South China Sea, it will provide both a psychological and a tactical boost to China’s maritime patrols.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 15:26:17 +0000
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