Beijing has been embarrassed as its new nuclear submarine sank as it was docked next to a pier as it underwent construction.
The Zhou-class submarine, renowned for its x-shaped stern to aid manoeuvrability, is part of China’s attempts to build the world ’s largest Navy. A US defence official said satellite imagery showed the sub vanished under the water around May-time at the Shuangliu shipyard on the Yangtze River.
An image taken on June 15 appears to show the vessel either fully or partially submerged just under the river’s surface, with rescue equipment and cranes surrounding it. Booms surround it to prevent any oil or other leaks from the vessel.
The submarine was pictured docked in Wuhan (
Planet Labs)
Another picture, taken on August 25, shows a submarine back at the same dock, although it is not clear if it was the same one. It remains unknown if the affected submarine was loaded with nuclear fuel or if its reactor was operating at the time of the incident.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington said yesterday it was “not familiar with the situation” and it did not have information to provide. The US official said it was “not surprising” the nation’s navy concealed it.
Later pictures showed a number of cranes in the same area of water (
Planet Labs)
The US is said to consider China’s rise one of its main future security concerns. As of last year, the nation had six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 48 diesel-powered attack submarines.
It comes days after China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, stirring security concerns in the region already tense over Beijing’s territorial claims and rivalry with the US. The ICBM carried a dummy warhead and fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defense Ministry said in a statement posted to social media.
The launch by the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and was not directed against any country or target, according to the statement. It is unclear how often China conducts tests over such a distance. In 1980, China launched an ICBM into the South Pacific.
A map published in Chinese newspapers at the time showed the target area as roughly a circle in the centre of a ring formed by the Solomon Islands, Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, western Samoa, Fiji and the New Hebrides.
