Fire on China’s First Under Construction Amphibious Assault Ship : Indication of State of Affairs
China held a launch ceremony for its first Type 075 amphibious assault ship in Shanghai on September 25, 2019.
Remember how the so called Chinese Naval Experts had commented when fire had broken out on the Indian Naval Ship INS VIKRAMADITYA, even though it was just a small mishap. Now China’s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship has caught on fire on Saturday at the Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai. Thick smoke was seen on the ship, sources in the know said the accident was significant and may have a major impact on further construction.
Photos on the internet showed that the stern of a Type 075 amphibious assault ship was blackened by a fire, and certain videos showed that there was fire at the stern, and columns of smoke were billowing with the wind as per Singaporean news outlet Lianhe Zaobao.
The ship that caught fire was the first Type 075 of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, and the warship was still under construction.
The ship had received a grand launch ceremony on September 25, 2019. As China’s first ever domestically developed amphibious assault ship, the Type 075 is touted to have strong capabilities in amphibious warfare with capabilities to conduct multiple types of missions. As per plan worked out the ship was to soon undergo equipment calibration, mooring and sea trials. All related testing processes after the ship’s launch are still under the management of the shipyard rather than the navy.
Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said that smoke concentrated on the middle and rear areas of the ship, judging from the photos, and the cause for the fire is likely be problems with the power and mechanical systems, sparks caused by electric welding in maintenance, a fire in the kitchen or some flammable materials on deck or in the hanger that were left unsupervised for some time.
Since the construction of the ship was still underway, there could be mechanical or electrical problems due to shoddy work or plain carelessness. Even careless inflammable material being placed on the ground, could have been ignited by sparks caused by electric welding.
Sources in the know said that the fire though not considered as a major accident, will have major impact on further construction.
Any missed details could result in an accident in the construction of a large ship, and a small problem could potentially impact the overall construction. Proper procedures can possibly avoid all such accidents, so there is need to speculate on the origins of the Type 075’s fire.
Accidents taking place in the process of construction point out to hidden problems and may lead to even larger accident. The amphibious assault ship will be frequently used in the future, if any major technical issues were to be found later on when the ship was being used by the military, the result may potentially be worse.
Remember how the first Chinese designed aircraft carrier had to face numerous problems and had to be recalled back several times during the extended sea trial phase itself. The Carrier is yet to venture out to the open Pacific or to the Indian Ocean Region.
