China Defense Blog: AOR 890 Commissioned.

There's little doubt that the recently commissioned AOR pair will bring relief to PLAN's overworked replenishment fleet, especially in supporting the on-going Gulf of Aden missions.

Supply ship commissioned for E China Sea fleet

(Source: Xinhua) 2013-09-13

　　ZHOUSHAN, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- A supply ship was commissioned for the East China Sea fleet of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Thursday.

　　The supply ship Chaohu is a Chinese-made ocean-going vessel capable of replenishing both dry and liquid cargo, said Zhang Weidong, the ship's captain.

　　The ship, with hull number 890, successfully completed supply missions to two naval vessels during a trial voyage conducted recently, according to military sources.

　　Chaohu has a displacement of more than 20,000 tons and is able to sail to all kinds of sea areas except polar and ice regions, according to Zhang.

Editor:Chen Jie

‘Taihu Lake’ ship first berths at foreign port for replenishment

(Source: China Military Online) 2013-09-16　　

JIDDAH, Sept. 16 (ChinaMil) --- The comprehensive supply ship “Taihu Lake” of the 15th escort taskforce under the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) arrived at the Jiddah port in Saudi Arabia for a five-day-long in-port rest and replenishment at 09:00 on Sep 14, 2013, local time.

　　This is the first time for the ship to berth at a foreign port since it was commissioned to the PLAN.

　　The “Taihu Lake” ship is China’s independently-developed new-type large ocean-going comprehensive supply ship. It has a length of 178.5 meters, a beam of 24.8 meters and a displacement of 20,000-odd tons, and it can carry 11,000-ton supply materials.

　　The ship was commissioned to the PLAN in June, 2013, and began carrying out missions of the 15th escort taskforce since August 8, 2013.

　　Up to now, the comprehensive supply ship “Taihu Lake” has sailed continuously for 38 days. It has supplied the amphibious dock landing ship “Jinggangshan” and the guided missile frigate “Hengshui” of the taskforce with 1,790-ton fuel oil, 114-ton fresh water and nearly 6-ton dry goods including vegetables in 5 times, and it has escorted 23 ships in five batches, found and expelled 3 suspected pirate boats in 2 batches, and offered emergency medical assistance twice.

　　During the in-port rest and replenishment this time, the “Taihu Lake” ship will be supplied with 39 varieties of 6 categories of vegetables and dry goods, and meanwhile, the warships “Jinggangshan” and “Hengshui” will undertake the escort mission in the Gulf of Aden.

　　It is learnt that the “Taihu Lake” ship will berth monthly in the future for replenishment of such materials as fuel oil, fresh water and vegetables.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Replenishment ship 889, Taihu, heads to Gulf of Aden.

Taihu only commissioned in June 2013 and now it is rushed into a foreign deployment. It goes to show how desperate the PLAN is regarding the need of Replenishment Tankers.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90786/8353801.html15th Chinese naval escort taskforce holds rally before sailing to Gulf of Aden
The 15th escort taskforce under the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLAN) which will go to the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast to take over the escort mission from the 14th Chinese naval escort taskforce held a rally yesterday morning at a naval port in Zhanjiang of south China's Guangdong province.
Commander Jiang Weilie of the PLAN South China Sea Fleet chaired the meeting, and Wang Dengping, political commissar of the South China Sea Fleet, addressed the meeting and encouraged all the officers and men to complete the escort mission.
Jiang Zhonghua, commander of the 15th Chinese naval escort taskforce and director of the Armaments Department of the South China Sea Fleet, and Liu Zhonghu, captain of the amphibious dock landing ship Jinggangshan, delivered a speech on behalf of the taskforce and all the officers and men respectively.
The 15th Chinese naval escort taskforce is composed of the guided missile frigate Hengshui, the amphibious dock landing ship Jinggangshan and the comprehensive supply ship Taihu.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Replenishment ship 889, Taihu commissioned today at Qingdao

中国海军网青岛 2013年6月18日电记者钱晓虎、特约记者王庆厚报道：6月18日上午，我国自行研制设计的新型综合补给舰——太湖舰入列命名授旗仪式，在青岛某军港码头举行，标志着该舰正式加入人民海军战斗序列。北海舰队副司令员杨骏飞为该舰授军旗并颁发命名证书。

　　太湖舰，舷号889，舰长178.5米，宽24.8米，满载排水量20000多吨，2012年3月下水。该舰是我国新一代大型远洋综合补给舰，也是北海舰队接收的第一艘该型补给舰。补给接收装置采用国际标准，具有自动化程度高、操作简便、适配性强、补给速度快、保障效率高等特点，可通过横向、纵向、垂直和靠帮等多种方式对舰艇编队实施补给作业，具备两舷三向四站同时补给能力。

　　太湖舰交付北海舰队某作战支援舰支队后，主要担负战时加入海上机动编队对驱护舰实施航行或停泊补给，平时伴随驱护舰编队执行远航及出访任务。

　　仪式上，太湖舰政委邵惠良代表全舰官兵发言，表示要牢记肩负使命，不负人民重托，认真学习新装备知识，把听党话、跟党走作为立舰之本，把拉得出、补得好作为责任担当，用忠诚和实干努力打造一支全面过硬的海上保障劲旅。

　　http://navy.81.cn/content/2013-06/18/content_5379557.htm

Friday, May 31, 2013

Photo of the day: Replenishment ship 889, Taihu.

Looks like it is near completion.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Guangzhou HuangPu's Milk Cow

Here is the latest photo from Guangzhou on the second Type 903 AOR under construction there.

Monday, January 14, 2013

New type 903 AOR Replenishment oiler completed it's first sea trial

With impressive building speed of launch to first sea trial in just 9 months, the China navy must be needing those new milk cows bad. Don't be surprise to see those two supporting Gulf of Aden anti piracy operations by year end.