New China Coast Guard ship likely to operate in SCS.....!!!

[Zain Malik]

The new Type 054A vessel, pictured here in CCG livery, will likely operate around the disputed Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Source: Chinese internet sources via cjdby.net


Photographs posted online have shown that a new ship for the China Coast Guard (CCG) was launched on 29 May at the Huangpu shipyard in Guangzhou, southern China.

The ship, which is likely to operate around the disputed Paracel and Spratly Islands in the South China Sea (SCS), has adopted in its design a hull very similar to that of the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) Type 054A Jiangkai II frigates, the 24th of which was under construction alongside the coastguard vessel.

While there are differences in the superstructure between the coastguard ship and the frigate, they appear to be broadly the same length and both have a flight deck and hangar to support an embarked helicopter.

With a draught of 4.4 m, the coastguard ship may displace slightly less than the Type 054A, but the numbering convention for CCG vessels indicates that it is between 3,000-4,000 tonnes. The standard displacement of the Type 054A is 3,500 tonnes.

A number of larger CCG ships are armed. No weapons have yet been installed in the latest vessel but it would be unsurprising if it is equipped with 20-30 mm guns and may also have a 76 mm gun installed forward of the bridge, as in the Type 054A. It is unlikely to carry any of the missiles installed in the frigate.

The new ship is not the first in the CCG fleet to use a warship hull. In 2015 two Jiangwei I frigates were transferred from the navy and a former amphibious landing ship was reallocated to the white fleet. The Huangpu shipyard has also constructed new coastguard ships based on the hull of the PLAN's 1500-tonne Type 056 Jiangdao-class corvettes.

The number given to the new ship also indicates that it will be allocated to the coastguard in Hainan province and is therefore likely to operate around the Paracel and Spratly Islands.