China’s third aircraft carrier ‘to be launched on Dragon Boat Festival’
- Preparations appear to be under way at Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai, where the warship is under construction
- Military insider says it will take place on Friday and that the vessel ‘needs to go into sea trials as soon as possible’
The Maritime Safety Administration last Friday issued a notice calling for berths to be cleared for an operation at the No 3 and No 4 docks at the Jiangnan shipyard on Changxing Island, where the warship is under construction.
It said the operation would be under way from 5.30am to 4pm on Monday and would involve five platforms, three tugboats and two salvage ships.
Naval experts said the arrangements suggested that the Jiangnan shipyard was preparing to launch the new aircraft carrier.
“The latest satellite imagery shows the Type 003 had been blocked by a huge ship segment – this was done so that passing commercial ships couldn’t see the construction progress,” said Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at the Taiwanese Naval Academy.
“That segment will have to be moved so that they can launch the Type 003 by sliding it into the water.”