BEIJING, April 17 -- "The Chinese PLA Navy's hydrographic survey ship PLANS Haiyang 26 will travel to Monaco to attend the 4th plenary session of the International Hydrographic Organization Assembly in mid-to-late April, during which activities such as ship-open-day events will be held," said Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at a regular press briefing on Friday.

The spokesperson introduced that this self-designed and home-built hydrographic survey ship is capable of conducting precision marine survey and mapping missions worldwide (excluding polar regions), as well as joint search and rescue operations at sea.