China's Zhejiang Hongsheng Shipbuilding has floated out a new hospital ship ordered by the Beijing Pinglan Public Welfare Foundation.
Classed by China Classification Society, Pinglan is the first privately-owned Chinese hospital ship to be capable of open-ocean navigation. The vessel will be deployed to Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East to provide medical assistance and transport disaster relief aid as needed.
The completed vessel will have an LOA off 100.15 metres, a beam of 18 metres, a draught of 5.4 metres, a depth of 8.35 metres, a displacement of 5,000 tons, accommodation for 50 personnel including crewmembers, medical staff and volunteers, and space for up to 1,000 tons of disaster relief aid.
The vessel will be powered by one MAN B&W 8L27/38 with a rated output of 2,920 kW at 800 rpm. This configuration will deliver a speed of approximately 14.5 knots and a range of 8,000 nautical miles.
The onboard facilities will include consultation rooms, observation rooms, an operating room, an X-ray room, a CT scan room, and a helicopter deck. The vessel itself will also be equipped for search and rescue (SAR) missions and training of SAR personnel.