Article Posted on : - Aug 05, 2013

An unrelated file photo.

BEIJING (BNS): China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has commissioned a new Type 056 guided missile frigate into service last week.

The warship, named 'Yingkou' and bearing hull number 581, was officially commissioned during a ceremony at a naval port in Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province on August 1, a local media report said.

The ceremony marked the beginning of the corvette's military service in the North China Sea Fleet of the PLAN, it said.

The indigenously developed new-generation light guided missile frigate is 89 meters long and 9 meters wide with nearly 1,500 tons of displacement, the report added.

China is building a series of Type 056 class stealth frigates as a replacement for its Navy's Type 037 series of patrol vessels.

The first ship of the class, named Bengbu, joined the PLAN in February this year.

The frigates have been designed for patrolling, guarding and escorting missions as well as to carry out anti-submarine operations and operations against sea targets independently or in coordination with other forces, according to a People's Daily reoprt.