Chinese navy conducts rescue drills in W Pacific

A fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy on Saturday morning carried out search and rescue drills, together with a helicopter, in the western Pacific Ocean, according to a Navy officer onboard.

Four Navy warships, namely Hangzhou, Ningbo, Zhoushan and Maanshan as well as a ship-borne helicopter participated in the drills, separately in two sea areas, Fan Zaijun, deputy chief of staff of a destroyer, told Xinhua.

The drills were based on the scenario of some local law-enforcing vessels being confronted by foreign warships while carrying out their duties, resulting in two Chinese law-enforcers falling into the sea. Upon receiving a simulated plea for help from civil law-enforcement vessels, the Chinese navy fleet rushed to the site for the rescue.

The helicopter was firstly sent to the area to search for the "victims" and then it guided the warships in rescue operations. Two search and rescue drills were successfully carried out as both of the overboard law-enforcers were saved.

The drills proved quite difficult, said Fan, because of bad weather that caused three-meter-high tides in the areas, though their successful completion was helpful for the navy to improve its capabilities in non-combat tasks and for the local law-enforcers to improve their professional abilities.