The navy showcased the medical capabilities of a newly acquired supply vessel yesterday shortly after it formally took delivery of the craft, which is expected to enhance Taiwan’s combat capabilities at sea, as well as its ability to provide humanitarian assistance.
The Panshih was formally delivered to the navy by local shipbuilder CSBC in a ceremony at Kaohsiung Port yesterday.
The navy opened the new vessel to the media shortly after the ceremony to give people a closer look at its medical facilities.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
There is a small hospital on the ship that includes an operating theater, a dental room, three regular wards and an isolation ward. It is stocked with advanced equipment, such as endoscopy devices and mobile X-ray machines.
The hospital would provide medical services for Tawian’s military personnel and would also be able to offer treatment for disaster victims when it is deployed on international humanitarian aid missions, the navy said.
In order to provide a better quality of life for servicemen and women and officers on board, there is a gym and a social room where they can watch TV when they are off duty.
Having received the Panshih, the navy said it would now begin training personnel to familiarize them with the craft before formally entering the ship into service.
The vessel would be used to transport fuel, ammunition and other supplies to naval vessels in the event of war.
In peacetime, it is mainly to be used to carry supplies, conduct maritime rescue missions and provide humanitarian assistance, the navy said.
Currently, the navy only has one supply vessel in service, the Wuyi.
Captain Cheng Nai-pin (鄭乃斌), who will be the first captain of the Panshih, praised the vessel’s mobility, stability and ability to travel long distances and carry large amounts of supplies.
“We also have advanced medical equipment to provide better medical services than the Wuyi,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony. “The Panshih is also more stable than the Wuyi.”
Despite its supply and support functions, the ship is also well armed to maintain a certain level of defense capabilities, a navy official said.
The weapons on the Panshih include the Phalanx close-in weapons system, a 20mm Gatling gun and short-range Sea Chaparral surface-to-air missile, the official said.
Commissioned by the navy, CSBC began construction of the Panshih in 2011, and the vessel was christened in November 2013. It cost NT$4.09 billion (US$130.1 million) to build, according to the navy.
It was named after Panshih Mountain in Hualien County. The words suggest a sturdy and unwavering foundation.
The new vessel is 196m long and 25.2m wide, can take a crew of up to 165 and has a range of 8,000 nautical miles (14,816km).
It can reach a maximum speed of 22 knots (40.74kph) and has a load displacement of about 20,000 tonnes (18,143 tonnes) and a light displacement of about 10,000 tonnes (9071 tonnes).
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we