Chinese hospital ship 'Silk Road Ark' sets sail for first overseas mission

FUZHOU -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy hospital ship "Silk Road Ark" departed Quanzhou in East China's Fujian province on Friday morning for a humanitarian medical service mission to the South Pacific and Latin America.

Mission Harmony-2025 marks the 11th iteration of Mission Harmony since 2010 and the first overseas mission for "Silk Road Ark," China's second domestically designed and constructed 10,000-tonne-class standard ocean-going hospital ship.

The 220-day mission, the longest in the series, will see the ship visit around a dozen nations, including Nauru, Fiji, Tonga, Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Papua New Guinea, to provide humanitarian medical services.

The ship features 14 clinical departments and 7 auxiliary diagnostic units, capable of performing over 60 types of medical procedures spanning general surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, and more. An onboard helicopter enhances its emergency medical rescue capabilities.

The mission team is primarily made up of medical support personnel from the PLA Southern Theater Command Navy, with additional members from the Joint Logistic Support Force, the Northern Theater Command Navy, and the Naval Medical University.