China’s first aircraft carrier starts sea trial

CHINA: China’s first aircraft carrier on Wednesday left its shipyard in the country’s northeast to start its first sea trial, the state news agency Xinhua said.

The revamped old Soviet ship’s sea trial was in line with the schedule of its refitting project and would not take long, the news agency said, quoting military sources. After returning from the trial, the carrier will continue its refit and test work, the report said, adding that the vessel had set sail from its shipyard in the city of Dalian.

But media reports and military analysts have for years said the 300-metre (990-foot) ship was in development.

The ship, once called the Varyag, was originally built for the Soviet navy. Construction was interrupted by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

China reportedly bought the ship’s immense armoured hull with no engine, electrics or propeller in 1998. BEIJING, Wednesday, AFP