The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy hospital ship "Peace Ark" on Sunday witnessed an oath-taking ceremony held on its board just before crossing the Chinese traditional maritime boundary line and entering the open sea.
The maritime hospital is composed of more than 100 medical personnel, who are mainly selected from the Naval Medical University, with others from the joint logistic support force as well as the medical servicemen of the Navy under the eastern, southern and northern theater commands.
During the ceremony with a theme of "farewell to the motherland," they took the solemn oath in front of the PLA flag. Sirens sounded, announcing that the hospital ship had crossed the boundary line.
The hospital ship set sail from a military port in Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang Province on the morning of June 16, for Mission Harmony-2024.
This is the 12th overseas voyage for "Peace Ark" since its commissioning in 2008, and also the 10th Mission Harmony for the vast hospital ship.
During the mission, the ship will visit 13 countries including Seychelles, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa, and offer free medical service to local residents, people in Chinese institutions, and overseas Chinese. It will also make port calls to France and Greece.
The hospital has 17 clinical departments and five auxiliary diagnostic departments, which can carry out more than 60 kinds of examination, treatment or surgery. The ship also carries a shipboard ambulance helicopter, with rapid forward emergency rescue capabilities.
This mission will be the longest voyage and the largest number of countries visited by the "Peace Ark" among the harmony missions.
The "Peace Ark" has traveled more than 290,000 nautical miles and visited 45 countries and regions, providing humanitarian medical services to over 290,000 people and conducting more than 1,700 surgeries.
Oath-taking ceremony held on board of PLA Navy hospital ship "Peace Ark"
