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| East Asia |
| ’Mechanical malfunction’ on board Chinese submarine kills 70 sailors |
| 2003-05-03 |
| EFL. China confirmed yesterday that 70 officers and sailors had died on one of its diesel-powered submarines. It is one of the worst naval accidents in the country's history. Follow-up of earlier Rantburg report, so now it's official. In a brief and vague report that left the timing of the incident unclear, the Xinhua News Agency said the deaths had occurred "recently" in Chinese waters east of the Neichangshan islands in the Yellow Sea, between China and North Korea. The submarine was on an exercise when the accident occurred, and "because of a mechanical malfunction, the 70 crew members on board died," Xinhua said. Citing unidentified "navy sources", the news agency said the vessel had already been towed back to a port, also unidentified. Military analysts in the West said it was probably a Ming-class diesel-electric submarine, of a type often used for coastal defence. Ming-class submarines usually carry a crew of 50, suggesting that some aboard were technicians or staff officers. First made by the Soviet Union during the Second World War, the Chinese made them until the 1990s. They are thought to have more than a dozen still in operation. Western defence specialists say they they are obsolete by modern standards. China's 2.5 million-strong People's Liberation Army includes a fleet of about 90 submarines, most of them aging diesel-electric vessels. They are known to suffer from a shortage of funding and insufficient maintenance. Police state and motivated maintenance workers don't go together. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 The Ming class is a reverse-engineered former Soviet Navy "Romeo" class diesel snorkel-equipped submarine. Most likely cause of death was a buildup of carbon monoxide from a poorly operating snorkel. It's happened at least once before in China, with the same class of boat. The Chinese People's Navy have two locally-designed vessels they use, and neither is noted for safety or a high level of operation. Submarines are one class of weapon where numbers can make up for poor design. Poor design in a submarine is usually fatal. This is just one such incident. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-05-03 11:50:24 |
| #2 suggesting that some aboard were technicians or staff officers. Ehime Maru? Maybe it wasn't such a good idea when that know-it-all guest pulled rank on that seaman who recommended: "that might not be such a good idea, Sir. |
| Posted by: Becky 2003-05-03 11:50:02 |
| #1 Chinese made diesel boat = death trap on a good day. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-05-03 09:21:44 |