Believe it or not, back in those dark days of 2007, it was the largest cutter of the Hainan 3rd Coast Guard detachment and the only one heavier than 1000 tons. Now with newer boats entering services in rapid succession, the CCG is no longer interested in keeping this 38 years old workhorse around. Progress, right?
My old blog post back in 2008 on the Shaoxing:
http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2008/07/photos-of-two-old-jianghu-ffg-in-coast.html
Friday, July 11, 2008
Photos of two old Jianghu FFG in Coast Guard colors.
Latest photos of two old Jianghu FFG in Coast Guard colors.
In case you are wondering why they look so different from their sisters ships, well, because they have been transferred from PLAN to the Chinese Coast Guard as Ocean Patrol Vehicle in 2007. Additional fuel capabilities were also added during the refit to extend their patrol range (Notice both the main guns and missile were removed)
1002 (old PLAN FFG 509) is currently serving with Hainan 3rd Coast Guard detachment and 1003 (old PLAN FFG510) is currently serving with Guangzhou 2nd Coast Guard detachment
There were suggestions out there to suggest that as more modern surface ships entering service with the PLAN, it will be interesting to see if more older FFG will be transferred to civilian hands. However, looking at the recent activities of MSA21 and MSA31 around East China Sea, it does seems that China is preferred to used more newly purpose build ships to “show-the-flag” and reserve those two old workhorses for less attractive duties. If Coast Guard has the budget, I am sure they will prefer new boats, after all, they did not take any of the old PLAN Hainan class, which is available by the hundred and build a new batch of crafts that has a similar size and range
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