In June 2024, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) hospital ship Peace Ark embarked on its most ambitious endeavor from the port of Zhoushan. For the next six months, the hospital ship would traverse the Indian Ocean and Horn of Africa to make port calls in 14 different nations, providing medical services in week-long stays.
But curiously, during its stay at the Port of Owendo in Gabon, the Chinese and Gabonese navies also held their first joint exercise in October 2024. In addition to its high-profile port investments abroad, China is increasingly using humanitarian and commercial objectives to increase its maritime presence abroad – including medical diplomacy, escort missions, and security fora.
The Peace Ark
China’s Peace Ark is less than two decades old. Only formally established in 2007 and commissioned in 2008, the PLAN’s first hospital ship has since undergone 11 distinct missions. According to China’s Ministry of Defense, the ship has “over 100 medical staff working in dozens of clinical and auxiliary departments, [and] harbors multiple operating rooms, nursing stations and exam rooms, thus being capable of accommodating roughly 1,000 patients at once and diagnosing and treating various illnesses.”
China is not the only military to have a hospital ship – a handful of countries, including the United States, operate such vessels. For example, the American USNS Mercy has also conducted international missions such as the Pacific Partnership 2022, with stops in the Solomon Islands, “Vietnam, Palau, the Philippines, and engineering engagement in Fiji and Papua New Guinea.” The USNS Mercy and the Peace Ark even crossed paths in 2014 during the Rim of the Pacific exercise as part of a “medical exchange conference.”
The Peace Ark embarked on its inaugural overseas mission in 2010, traveling to five countries: Bangladesh, Seychelles, Djibouti, Kenya, and Tanzania. Since then, the Peace Ark has focused primarily on medical service in specific regions. 2011 saw travel to the Caribbean, 2013 to South Asia, 2017 to East Africa, and 2023 to five countries in the Pacific Islands. Amid the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, no missions were completed in 2020 and 2021, and 2022 only saw a single visit to Indonesia.
The Peace Ark’s most recent mission, however, was its largest to date.
2024 Mission: 13 Countries, Two Technical Stops, and Two Port Calls
Departing from its home base in Zhoushan, the Peace Ark this time around traveled to 13 countries to perform medical services. In addition, it was announced to make two port calls in France and Greece.
In June 2024, the Peace Ark stopped in Victoria (Seychelles), Das es Salaam (Tanzania), and Antsiranana (Madagascar). In August, it visited Maputo (Mozambique) and Cape Town (South Africa). September included visits to Luanda (Angola), Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), and Owendo (Gabon). In October, the Peace Ark concluded its visit to the region by stopping in Douala (Cameroon), Cotonou (Benin), and Nouakchott (Mauritania). At last, the hospital ship paid a visit to Djibouti, where China’s PLA Logistics Support Base is located, and the Colombo port in Sri Lanka in December.
Every stop, each seven days in length, saw the treatment of multiple patients. The Chinese Ministry of Defense reported the treatment of “more than 80,000 patients,” with “1,400 surgeries and operations and nearly 40,000 examinations and tests of all kinds.” For six of the countries – Madagascar, South Africa, the Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Benin, and Mauritania – this marked the first visit by the Peace Ark.
Beyond the pre-announced stops, the Peace Ark also made a five-day technical stop at the Port of Algiers in Algeria in November 2024 as well as a technical stop of the same length in Singapore.
Peace Ark and China’s Expanding Maritime Role
While the Peace Ark has gone abroad since 2010, its increasing missions and visits highlight China’s expanding maritime role in the world. This comes at a time where China has increasingly invested in commercial ports and has sought out potential additional overseas basing.
The increasing importance and role of the Peace Ark is further highlighted by the addition of its sister ship, the Silk Road Ark, which embarked on its maiden voyage in July 2024. China’s Ministry of Defense outlined the tasks of this new hospital ship: “providing medical treatment and evacuation for the injured at sea,” “offering medical services to civilians and service members on the islands and reefs” of the South China Sea, “carrying out international humanitarian medical services, and fourthly, providing emergency medical service to respond to major disasters and engaging in international exchanges and cooperation on military medical service.”
Driving home the connection between its humanitarian activities and China’s security goals, the Peace Ark mission this year featured visits to seven countries that China has previously “likely considered” or “already made overtures to” for basing access, according to the latest Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China report by the U.S. Department of Defense in December 2024.
In three of these potential basing locations, joint exercises coincided with the medical service provided by the Peace Ark. In Gabon, the hospital ship held a “joint exercise on maritime rescue and evacuation with the Gabonese navy,” the first exercise between the two countries. Shortly following the Peace Ark’s visit to Tanzania and during its visit to Madagascar and Mozambique, the navies of China, Mozambique, and Tanzania conducted the “Peace Unity 2024” exercise, which saw “the troops conduct joint counter-terrorism military operations both on land and at sea.”
Beyond the increasing scope of the Peace Ark, Beijing has also increasingly utilized its navy for escort missions and anti-piracy missions, with the 46th naval escort task completing its mission in January after 339 days at sea. Recently, in December 2024, China’s PLAN also held its second symposium on maritime security with Gulf of Guinea countries, a follow-up from its first symposium in 2022.
Looking toward the future, as China’s maritime footprint abroad continues to expand, the PLAN is likely to invest and increase these humanitarian and diplomatic activities through avenues like the Peace Ark – even while private and state-owned companies continue their commercial investments. Especially as new challenges to maritime security arise, such as maritime blockades and piracy, closely watching the PLAN’s response will highlight China’s evolving role as a maritime security provider.
