By Zhao Yang and Gao Yanjie
DJIBOUTI, Dec. 6 -- On December 1, local time, the comprehensive supply ship Taihu (Hull 889) attached to the 39th escort taskforce of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy completed contact-free loading of the first batch of supplies, which were purchased through domestic channels, while being berthed at the Port of Djibouti. This marks the first in-port replenishment since the taskforce set sail on September 26.
At 19:00 on November 30, the ship Taihu pulled in the Port of Djibouti. After berthing, cargo containers were hoisted onto the ship in turn, while the sailors carried out disinfection treatment and sampling for quarantine inspection on the containers and food crates.
More than 10 consecutive hours of unloading and shipment later, the ship Taihu successfully completed the contact-free replenishment of more than 30 tons of supplies at 6 a.m. on December 1, local time.
In preparation for the taskforce’s supply replenishment, the PLA Support Base in Djibouti had managed to purchase non-staple food and other supplies through domestic channels and transport them by merchant ships in cold-chain storage.