In a move to upgrade its fleet of coastal surveillance vessels and to extend its capacity to conduct patrols further out to sea, China plans on building the world's largest patrol ship.
The ship will reportedly have a displacement of 10,000 tons. Currently, the largest patrol ship in the world is the 7175 ton "Shikishima" class vessel of the Japanese Coast Guard. At present, China's Marine Surveillance patrol fleet includes 27 vessels with at least a displacement of 1,000 tons and another 30 now under construction.
China's largest patrol ship is 4000 ton "Haijian 50" class vessel. The Haijian 50 was built and gave China the ability to patrol the East China Seas especially after tensions with Japan have risen over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands just north of Taiwan. Analysts say that the new ship is being built to give China patrol capability in the choppy waters of the South China Seas.
Reports say that in 2013, the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) was contracted to begin construction of two vessels one of which will be the new 10,000 ship. CSIS, incidentally, was also the company that built the Haijian 50. According to the company's website, its marine research institute has signed 280 million yuan (US$ 42.6 million) worth of contracts for the project and has spent more than a year on research and development into the new vessel.
Sources say that the new vessel, like the Japanese Shikishima which is equipped with advanced weapons systems and two helicopters, will most likely have the ability to support two aircraft and several smaller boats. No word has been said what armaments, if any, the new vessel will have.