China’s indigenous aircraft carrier Shandong starts 1st maintenance, refurbishment
The picture shows aircraft carrier Shandong berths at a naval port in Sanya.
The Shandong, China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier developed domestically, reportedly started its first scheduled maintenance and refurbishment that is expected to enhance the flattop’s usability after more than two years of active service. The procedure will involve the painting of new non-skid coating as well as repairs and upgrades for some subsystems. Hopefully after repairs the Aircraft Carrier will be Blue water capable.
Moored in a berth at Dalian Shipyard in Northeast China’s Liaoning Province where the carrier was constructed, the Shandong was receiving painting of new non-skid coating to its flight deck on Saturday, the 73rd founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.
This is the first scheduled usability enhancement maintenance of the Shandong back at its shipyard since its commissioning into the PLA Navy in December 2019 in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province, and the workers at the shipyard are working extra shifts for the refurbishment, according to the wenweipo.com report.
The main dock of the Dalian Shipyard has been cleared after a civilian ship left on April 13, but the Shandong has not yet entered the dock, the report said.
On March 18, the Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Straits from south to north without aircraft on its flight deck, Reuters reported at the time.
In addition to refreshing the non-skid coating of the flight deck, the maintenance could also feature the refurbishment, repair and upgrade of some subsystems that tends to wear and tear, like the arresting gear, the power system, pipelines and electronics systems.
A comprehensive examination to the carrier could be carried out, and upgrades and overhaul could be made to those parts that encountered problems or can be optimized based on the experiences gained over the past two years, an expert said.
It is totally normal for aircraft carriers to conduct this kind of regular maintenance, and this procedure could take a few months, the expert said, noting that the Shandong would become sea worthy and hopefully combat-ready after the refurbishment.
A refurbishment to the rusty Liaoning, had taken about six months, from July 2018 to January 2019, also in the Dalian Shipyard, according to media reports.
