The Type 631 tanker is a type 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 (PLAN), and has received NATO reporting name Fuchang class. Originally designed as a type that is capable of transport both water and oil, but only the

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

version entered service with PLAN (as of early 2020s). Type 631 tankers in PLAN service are designated by a combination of two Chinese characters followed by a three-digit number. The second Chinese character is You (油), meaning oil in Chinese, because these ships are classified as oilers. The first Chinese character denotes which fleet the ship is service with, with East (Dong, 东) for

East Sea Fleet The Eastern Theater Command Navy (), or East Sea Fleet (ESF; ), is one of the three fleets of the People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the East China Sea under the Eastern Theater Command. It was the first naval force formed by the Peop ...

, North (Bei, 北) for North Sea Fleet, and South (Nan, 南) for

South Sea Fleet The Southern Theater Command Navy (), or the South Sea Fleet (SSF; ) is one of the three fleets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the South China Sea under the Southern Theater Command. It is headquartered in Zhanjiang, ...

. However, the pennant numbers are subject to change due to changes of Chinese naval ships naming convention, or when units are transferred to different fleets. Type 631 can be easily distinguished from other transport oilers by its transfer stations amid ship that enables it to carry out underway replenishment missions. Another visual cue of this class is that from the bow to the midsection of the ship, there are three levels of freeboard, while all other Chinese tanker has a smooth curvy transition. Specification: *Displacement: 2,300 long tons (2,300 t) *Length: 60 m (196 ft 10 in) *Beam: 10 m (32 ft 10 in) *Draft: 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) *Propulsion: 2 marine diesel engines @ 7200 hp (5369 kW) 2 shafts *Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) *Complement: 30

References

{{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy, state=uncollapsed Auxiliary ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy