PLA warships crosses equator on training mission

A group of warships from the People's Liberation Army navy crossed the equator and entered the Southern Hemisphere on Monday afternoon amid an ongoing training mission.

Battleships from the PLA navy's South Sea Fleet — the amphibian landing craft Changbaishan and the missile destroyers Haikou and Wuhan, sailed through the equator at around 5:20 pm.

They set sail from military ports in Guangdong and Hainan provinces on Jan 20, and have patrolled the Xisha and Nansha islands in the South China Sea.

The group is conducting a long-distance training mission and will exercise tactical maneuvers in the Western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.