New replenishment oiler under construction in China

Sea Power, Aug 2003

Recent reporting indicates China's newest replenishment oiler for the People's Liberation Army-Navy has been launched, probably from the Dalian Shipyard. The new oiler is in the midst of installation of two Type 76A 37mm twin guns. The new oiler is probably of the same design as the Similan (Hudong-Type R22T) class built for the Royal Thai Navy in the late 1990s.

Like the Similan-clas's oiler, the new one-171 meters long and displacing 22,000 tons at full load-also has a flight deck and a hangar for one helicopter. The new oiler follows the Fuqing class, of which two units were built, and is needed to support the new Guangzhou-class (Type 052B/C) destroyers under construction in China. The new oiler will probably be commissioned in 2004, around the same time the first Guangzhou-class destroyer is commissioned.