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Haixun 01 - China Coast Guard Cutter

The contract to build China's most advanced large-scale maritime patrol ship, Haixun 01, was signed in Shanghai on 12 November 2010, which meant China's capability for maritime surveillance and rescue will be further improved. It will take 20 months for Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Company, Ltd. to build the ship and it is expected to be delivered in July 2012. This vessel cost 350 million RMB (about $50 million). While this is a big step up compared to China's existing fleet, it is still inferior to the size / performance of PLH31 (the largest patrol vessel of Japanese Coast Guard, which has twice the displacement of the new Chinese vessel).

Haixun 01 has a designed length of 128.6 meters, speed of 20.4 knots and a displacement of 5,418 tons. As the most advanced ship in terms of equipment, Haixun 01 is equipped with medium-sized helicopter hangars and a platform for large helicopter take-offs and landings. Hanxun 01 features information collection, processing and transmission, comprehensive commanding, maritime surveillance and rescue. It can carry 200 rescued persons and simple medical treatment can also be conducted on board the ship. Previously, China had three marine surveillance boats, the Haixun 11 and Haixun 31, which both weigh 3,000 tons, and the 1,500-ton Haixun 21. These ships are responsible for rescue, emergency, marine survey and protecting traffic order off of China's costal waters.

On July 28, 2012 the lauching ceremony of patrol vessel "Haixun 01" in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province was conducted. The patrol vessel equipped with devices to offer basic treatment and surgery to anyone injured. Aside from rescue missions, the vessel will be able to tow ships as well as put out fires on other boats.

China's largest search-and-rescue vessel "Haixun 01" arrived at Sydney's Garden Island port 22 June 2013 on its first international voyage. A welcome ceremony was held at the port in the morning, attended by Chinese ambassador to Australia Chen Yumin, Chinese consul general in Sydney Li Huaxin, Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) chief Graham Peachey, Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration Chief Xu Guoyi and "Haixun 01" captain Jiang Long.

AMSA Chief Graham Peachey welcomed the ship's arrival at the beginning of the ceremony, saying that the "Haixun 01" visit shows the close collaboration between Australia and China on maritime safety. During the week-long visit, AMSA personnel will meet with their Chinese counterparts and view equipment and procedures and undertake a tabletop search and rescue exercise scheduled for Wednesday, according to Peachey. Chen Yumin, Chinese ambassador to Australia, said at the ceremony that the maritime safety becomes more and more important to every country in the world. "Haixun 01 choosing Sydney as its first stop fully indicates Chinese sincerity in cooperating with AMSA," he said.

Afterwards, Xu Guoyi, Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration chief, said the visit would enhance mutual understanding and trust, build strong relationship between the two administrations and promote Sino-Australia maritime safety exchange. "Haixun 01" headed north to Australia's tropical city of Cairns on July 2 to attend the 14th Asia-Pacific Heads of Maritime Safety Agencies forum, hosted by AMSA. The ship then will visit Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia and is expected to get home on August 9.

Chinese Maritime Safety Administration patrol ship Haixun 01 is in the new search area following advice from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in its latest update on 04 April 2014. An international air crash investigation team in Malaysia provided updated advice to the ATSB, which, after examination, determined an area 1,100 kilometers to the northeast of the existing search area is now the most credible lead as to where debris may be located. The new search area is approximately 319,000 square kilometers, about 1,850 kilometers west of Perth. The depth of the water in the search area is between 2,000 and 4,000 meters.

China's official news agency reported 05 April 2014 what could be a breakthrough in locating the Malaysia Airlines jet missing for nearly a month. A Chinese ship, searching about 1,600 kilometers northwest of Perth, Australia, says it heard multiple pings that could have come from the missing plane's flight recorder. The Xinhua news agency reported the Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 in the southern Indian Ocean detected a pulse signal on the frequency 37.5 kilohertz. A Chinese Central Television (CCTV) reporter on board the ship, in a live broadcast, said the pings - one second apart - were detected by a hydrophone deployed from the vessel.

China's Maritime Search and Rescue Agency is quoted by Xinhua as saying there is no confirmation that the pulse originated from the flight recorder, or "black box," of missing flight MH370. The Chinese report was not immediately confirmed by authorities in China, Malaysia or Australia. But aviation experts in the United States and elsewhere say it is conceivable that such a signal could have come from the plane, which is presumed to have gone down at sea with the loss of all 239 people on board.

A patrol ship in the Taiwan Straits, developed by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corp (CSIC), held its launching ceremony on 08 February 2021, and will become China's largest maritime patrol rescue vessel in the Straits after it is commissioned. The ship was under construction by China State Shipbuilding Corp's Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry since May 2019, launched in February 2021 and commissioned on 10 July 2022, a day which also marks the 18th China National Maritime Day.

The Taiwan Straits is a high-risk area for water traffic accidents in China, and is also a key supervised sea area identified by China's Ministry of Transport. The large patrol rescue ship's presence in the Straits can help safeguard the nation's territorial sea sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. The ship, Haixun 06, is a 5,000-ton large patrol rescue ship tailored by CSIC's 701 Institute for the Maritime Safety Administration in East China's Fujian Province. It is the largest investment since the establishment of the administration and uses the most advanced technology. It will be used for regulating Taiwan Straits' waters, preventing pollution, dealing with maritime incidents, cross-strait exchanges and maintaining national maritime sovereignty, among other things, according to the institute. It will also be put into use in national maritime supervision and emergency disposal missions.

The Haixun 06, the first large vessel designated to patrol and provide services in the Taiwan Straits, was officially assigned to the Fujian Maritime Safety Administration on Monday, with Chinese experts noting that the commissioning of the vessel will further improve the level of emergency response to accidents in the region. The vessel is 128 meters long, 16 meters wide and 7.9 meters deep, with a displacement of 6,600 tons with a full load, a top speed of 23 knots and a cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles, the administration said in a news release. The vessel can cruise at sea for 60 days without external supplies, and is capable of reaching all the seas in the world except the North and South Poles, it said.

The Haixun 06 can also conduct far-reaching sea patrols in level 12 winds and level 9 sea state, and carry out maritime law enforcement activities under level 11 winds and level 7 sea state. The Haixun 06 is equipped with the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, GPS and multi-satellite linkage satellite communication equipment. The vessel can be used as an independent, mobile maritime administrative law enforcement unit to carry out maritime inspection and supervision, and deal with maritime traffic accidents.

It can also work with communication command vehicles, maritime patrol vehicles, other law enforcement vessels, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, VTS (vessel traffic service), and AIS (automatic identification systems), which is an important part of the construction of a comprehensive supervision and response system, media reported. The number of vessel accidents in the Taiwan Straits accounts for about 10 percent of China's annual total due to heavy traffic, overlapping shipping routes with coastal fishing grounds, thick fog in spring, typhoons in summer and strong winds in winter.

The Haixun 06 is capable of searching for and rescuing ships and people in distress at sea, as well as responding to ship collisions, fire, pollution, loss of control, reef and other dangerous accidents. The biggest function of Haixun 6 is to improve the level of emergency handling of ship accidents in the Taiwan Straits and ensure the smooth flow of the entire maritime transport channel.

Haixun 06 patrols the Taiwan Straits, but is not limited to them, Song said, adding that the object of emergency rescue work is not limited to ships from the Chinese mainland, but also includes ships from the island of Taiwan and other places, which will greatly help emergency rescue management in the entire region.

Maritime patrols are the main function of the Haixun 06, and "professional ships do professional things", the expert noted, adding that the Chinese coast guard and navy will be responsible for dealing with security risks that may arise in this area.