Chinese sailors are now able to eat fresh vegetables aboard ships thanks to the comprehensive replenishment vessel Dongpinghu of the Chinese navy, where a vegetable greenhouse has been established to grow soil-free vegetables.
The country on Thursday celebrated the 77th anniversary of the founding of PLA Navy, with dozens of active-duty vessels, including the Dongpinghu vessel, open to public.
The Dongpinghu vessel is a Type 903A comprehensive replenishment ship with a full-load displacement exceeding 20,000 tonnes.
Commissioned in December 2015, it is capable of transporting fuel, fresh water, and dry cargo in challenging sea conditions. Equipped with a hangar and a flight deck, it can also perform multi-dimensional resupply and emergency evacuation operations.
The Dongpinghu vessel can now grow more than 30 types of leafy and stem vegetables, providing sailors on long voyages with fresh vegetables year-round.
Zhang Junshe, a military commentator, said that growing vegetables on vessels and providing fresh vegetables to sailors are crucial for improving combat capabilities.
"Growing vegetables on a ship presents significant challenges. First, seawater temperatures fluctuate greatly, and the high salinity can easily corrode gardening equipment, which is extremely detrimental to vegetable growth. The comprehensive replenishment ship has to deal with different challenges during its rough voyage. The vegetables produced onboard have improved the crew's quality of life. It is very important to maintain the combat effectiveness by enhancing our independent and sustainable operational capability," said Zhang.
Chinese comprehensive replenishment vessel grows soil-free vegetables aboard ship
