China Commissioned the First Type 272 Icebreaker Haibing With PLAN North Sea Fleet

: Posted On Thursday, 07 January 2016 09:41

Naval Force News - China

China Commissioned the First Type 272 Icebreaker Haibing With PLAN North Sea Fleet

Haibing (hull number 722), the first ship of the new Type 272 class of icebreakers for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or Chinese Navy), has started its military service following a ceremony marking its commission held at a naval port in Huludao, northeast China's Liaoning province a few days ago.

Haibing (hull number 722) is the first ship of the new Type 272 class of PLAN icebreakers

The Haibing 722 will take on the tasks of ice condition investigation, ice breaking and maritime search and rescue in ice zone in the Bohai waters.

The icebreaker, designed and built independently by China, started to be built in November 2013 and was launched in March 2015. It is 103.10 meters long and 18.40 meters wide with a full-load displacement of 4,860 tons and a maximum speed of 18 knots. it is able to resist force 12 wind and navigate continuously up to 7,000 sea miles.

Video of the commissioning ceremony

There is a helicopter platform on the Haibing 722 where one Z-8 helicopter can take off and land.

PLA Navy's first generation Haibing 722, the newly-built icebreaker's predecessor, was made in Qiuxin Ship Plant in Shanghai with the approval of the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) in 1969. The construction only spent 103 days and the icebreaker was launched on Dec. 26, 1969. After 44 years of active service in the PLA Navy, the icebreaker retired in June 2013.

During its decades-long service time, the first generation Haibing 722 performed various missions with flying colors including search and rescue, breaking ice and piloting ships, investigating ice conditions, conducting training exercises and so on.

Besides the Haibing 722, on the list of those Chinese naval ships which have inherited the name or hull number of their previous-generation ships are the Type-052B guided missile destroyer Guangzhou, the Type-052D guided missile destroyers Kunming, Jinan, Xi'an and Changsha as well as the Type-056 corvette Fushun.