Vessel completes first patrol in South China Sea

SANSHA - A newly commissioned vessel in China's southernmost city of Sansha completed its first patrol in the waters around the nation's Zhongsha Islands.

Sansha's number one law enforcement ship left Yongxing Island, where Sansha city is located, on Sunday. It arrived in Wenchang, Hainan province, on Monday afternoon after a 660-nautical mile trip.

During its patrol, the vessel drove away boats that were in violation of a fishing ban related to the waters around the Zhongsha Islands, according to Liu Kun, a senior law enforcement officer. The ban started on May 16 in waters in the South China Sea, and will end on Aug 1.

City officials, including Xiao Jie, who is Sansha mayor and Communist Party of China city chief, participated in the patrol.

A survey of fishery resources in the Zhongsha Islands was also conducted by provincial maritime experts during the patrol.

The advanced patrol vessel was delivered and commissioned on May 20. With a tonnage of 2,600 tonnes, the vessel can reach speeds of 22 nautical miles per hour and is capable of sailing 6,000 nautical miles, meaning it can patrol the waters around the Nansha Islands.

Sansha City, on Yongxing, one of the Xisha islands, was officially established in 2012 to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha island groups and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.