The ''8 cubic meter'' class dredger is a class of naval
auxiliary ship
An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense.
Auxil ...
currently in service with the
People's Liberation Army Navy
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army.
The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese ...
(PLAN). The complete name of the class is 8 cubic meter grab dredger, and it can also be used as a
crane ship
A crane vessel, crane ship or floating crane is a ship with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads. The largest crane vessels are used for offshore construction. Conventional monohulls are used, but the largest crane vessels are often catam ...
, capable of lifting a maximum of a hundred tons for each single lift.
In 1984, the PLAN Equipment and Technology department signed a contract with East Sea Shipyard to build an 8 cubic meter class dredger / crane ship designed to meet the requirements of
Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK). The general designers were Xun Zhi-Liang (荀志亮) and Zhang Lin-Sheng (张林生). Construction began in December 1984, and after completion, the ship sailed to
Qingdao
Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
in June 1985 for further sea trials, which were completed successfully. The following month, the ship was handed over to the PLAN.
[
''8 cubic meter'' class dredger in PLAN service was originally designated by a combination of two Chinese characters followed by three-digit number. The first Chinese character is Jiao (交), short for Jiao-Tong (交通, meaning traffic in Chinese). The second Chinese character is Zhua (抓), short for Zhua-Dou-Shi (抓斗, meaning grab in Chinese, because the ship is a grab dredger).][ However, the pennant numbers may have changed due to the change of Chinese naval ship-naming convention.
]
References
{{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy, state=uncollapsed
Auxiliary ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy