Three Chinese naval tech experts drown trying to save research platform during typhoon
Men were swept out to sea by big waves as they tried to stop it from capsizing
Three top Chinese naval technology experts involved in developing nuclear submarines have died trying to save an experimental floating platform as a typhoon battered the country’s northeast.
The three men drowned off the coast of Dalian on Monday after being swept out to sea by big waves brought by Typhoon Rumbia. The platform’s developer, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), confirmed the deaths in a statement on Thursday.
They were identified as Huang Qun, deputy director of CSIC’s No 760 Institute in Dalian, Song Yuecai, chief scientist of the experimental programme, and Jiang Kaibin, its chief electromechanical engineer.
The institute – also known as the Dalian Institute for Measurement and Control Technology – specialises in underwater acoustic engineering, and vibration and noise testing technologies, which are important for submarine development.
It is a key player in China’s nuclear submarine programme, including the Type 098 – a fourth-generation nuclear sub developed with a higher performance and lower noise, allowing it to remain undetected when it launches an attack.
