Vietnam’s unique military-peace ship launched in Truong Sa

The Vietnamese Navy has put Khanh Hoa HQ561, the country’s first ship for both naval transport and medical purposes, into operation at the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago. This is a unique ship since it is a military one but not a warship.

The 2,200-ton ship, which began to be built by shipping builder Z189 in June 2010, is a special ship since it is combination of a transport ship and a hospital ship.

The ‘hospital’ on the ship is equipped with a team of health workers of 12 doctors and nurses and all necessary facilities and medical equipment to treat patients with different diseases, even in critical conditions.

This ‘hospital at sea’ has enough departments as a normal hospital on land, except for obstetrics and mental departments, said naval captain and engineer Dao Minh Thang, chairman of the ship project.

“After being delivered to the Vietnamese Navy, the ship left the port at Z189 Shipbuilding Plant in mid-December and is now in the sea of Truong Sa Island,” said captain Thang.

The ship can run at up to 16 nautical miles (nearly 30 km) per hour, Thang said.

The ship is an embodiment of benevolence and peace and shows one of the characteristics of the Vietnamese people: loving peace (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

This ship project is of great significance in political, defensive and economic aspects, since it is the first ship of its kind in the history of the Vietnamese Navy and was totally designed and built by Vietnamese engineers, said Tran Ngoc Tu, chairman of the political department of the Z189 factory.

“This is a very strange ship, especially in its shape and functions, and is the first-ever in the Vietnamese history. It is a military ship but in fact, it is actually not a warship, since it has the sign of Red Cross on its sides,” said a high-ranking official of the Vietnamese Navy.

“With the Red Cross, the ship is an embodiment of benevolence and peace and shows one of the characteristics of the Vietnamese people: loving peace,” the official said.

 A section of the "hospital" on the Khanh Hoa HQ561. This clinic can treat patients with various diseases (Photo: Tuoi Tre)