The Chinese Navy's hospital ship "Silk Road Ark", on its "Harmony Mission 2025" mission, carried out multiple surgical operations in Jamaica's Montego Bay on Saturday, easing pain for local patients still reeling from October's powerful hurricane.
On October 28, Jamaica was struck by a severe storm, which put the local healthcare system under immense pressure. Many patients urgently needing surgery have been waiting for treatment as the island suffered medical facility damages and resource shortages.
The Silk Road Ark arrived at Montego Bay on Thursday for a 12-day visit. At the request of the Jamaican side, the Chinese hospital ship will dock at three ports in Jamaica - Montego Bay, Kingston, and Falmouth - to provide medical services to local residents.
Anthony, a 38-year-old Montego Bay resident, had endured three years of recurring abdominal pain and bulges in both groins and his navel. His surgery has been delayed due to limited medical capacity. Seeking treatment on the ship, Anthony's surgery was completed within hours of admission.
"Awesome - everything is very awesome. Everybody works together. Everybody is clean, everybody is friendly, they attend to you at the same time," he said after the treatment.
To keep Jamaica's overstretched medical system afloat, the ship and the local health department opened a fast-track channel, streamlining screening, pre-op checks and scheduling for maximum throughput.
"We've done 14 surgeries today, running four operating rooms at the same time. After a long voyage, high-intensity surgery is a real test of our staffing, equipment and workflow. We set up every equipment in advance, optimized the deployment of our medical staff, stocked ample supplies and followed strict protocols to make sure every operation was finished quickly and safely," said Jiang Xin, a doctor on the hospital ship.
Since arriving in Montego Bay, the "Silk Road Ark" has seen almost 2,000 out-patients, and performed 267 surgeries and procedures, including cataract removals, hernia repairs and gastroscopies.
Chinese hospital ship "Silk Road Ark" delivers post-hurricane medical aid to Jamaica
China's 42nd Antarctic Expedition team has started unloading supplies for scientific exploration after arriving at waters near the Zhongshan Station, a Chinese research base in Antarctica.
The ongoing seven-month scientific exploration mission is supported by Chinese icebreakers the Xuelong and the Xuelong 2, which set sail from Shanghai on Nov 1.
The two icebreakers will deliver about 2,000 tons of supplies to the Zhongshan Station for scientific exploration.
The Xuelong 2 arrived first at a designated unloading spot about 12 kilometers from the Zhongshan Station. Later, the ship's Ka-32 helicopter transported in batches more than 300 tons of polar fuel to the research base when weather conditions were favorable.
"Nearly 90 members of the expedition team carried by the two ship are already at the Zhongshan Station, preparing for receiving supplies and assignments for scientific exploration," said Wang Tao, person in charge of unloading operations at the Zhongshan Station.
Thanks to more than 30 hours of efforts by the Xuelong 2 to widen the channel and lead the way, the Xuelong, which was carrying about 1,500 tons of supplies, has also arrived at the unloading spot.
The unloading operations, involving a combination of sea-ice transport and helicopter lifts, are expected to be finished within two weeks.
And then, the Xuelong and the Xuelong 2 will proceed to China's Qingling Station and Changcheng Station in Antarctica, respectively.
The expedition team includes more than 500 members from over 80 institutions on the Chinese mainland, along with researchers from more than 10 other countries and regions, such as Thailand, Chile and Portugal, as well as China's Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, in support of broader international scientific collaboration.
They will conduct multi-disciplinary scientific surveys, advance several major national research projects, and test domestically developed equipment under polar conditions.
Particularly, scientific drilling experiments in lakes deep in the Antarctic inland ice sheet will be carried out for the first time.
China's 42nd Antarctic Expedition team unloads supplies at Zhongshan Station
