SANYA, China, June 17 -- On June 16, the hospital ship Silk Road Ark of the Chinese PLA Navy set sail from a naval port in the coastal city of Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, kicking off a medical outreach voyage to the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. This is the second such mission by the Silk Road Ark since it was commissioned in 2024. The mission focuses on meeting the medical needs of service members on islands, such as training injury prevention and treatment, and mental health maintenance.
The Silk Road Ark is the second 10,000-ton ocean-going hospital ship independently designed and built by China. It has functional divisions covering outpatient clinics, pandemic prevention, surgery, rescue, and wards, as well as 15 types of clinical departments. It also possesses complete supporting medical facilities and equipment. Its major tasks include medical rescue and evacuation of the wounded at sea, international humanitarian medical service, emergency medical rescue in major disasters, and foreign military medical exchanges and cooperation.
(Video Editor: Huang Panyue)
