Sansha I.jpg (Photo : Xinhua)
Islands in the South China Sea will be receiving deliveries from a new vessel making its first trip taking the route from Hainan Island to Sansha of Hainan Province starting Monday, the Global Times reported.
Sansha I, a civilian ship, is the biggest and most innovative vessel yet to serve its purpose of supplying goods to the islets of the South China Sea. This will then be used to cater the needs of Sansha Province residents.
The ship will help expand the city's administration in the South China Sea and aid in China's efforts to protect its "blue territory" and safeguard its interests at sea, said Sansha mayor Xiao Jie.
Sansha I has a dimension of 122 meters in length and 21 meters in width and has a displacement of 7,800 tons. With its enormous size, it can accommodate 456 people and transport 20 standard-sized container trailers.
The performance of the new ship promises a navigation speed of around 19 nautical miles per hour and a traveling distance of 6,000 miles continuous sailing.
Shorter traveling time can be achieved when navigating between Wenchang on Hainan Island and Sansha's seat of government at Yongxing Island using the new ship, making a roundtrip once a week. This brings a lot of ease to several tasks being attended by the ship.
In July 2012, the City of Sansha was recognized with more the 200 islands, seashores and coral reefs in the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha group of islets, with also 2 million square kilometers of neighboring waters in the South China Sea.
Despite China's efforts, neighboring nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines, among others, are still disputing China's claim to the controversial territory.
