By Li Yun, Li Weixin and Liu Bo
The hospital ship Peace Ark departed from Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province and sailed seawards for the 11th time on July 3, carrying 126 medical personnel and one ship-borne helicopter ambulance.
This time, its destinations include Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Timor- Leste. It will visit Kiribati and the Solomon Islands for the first time.
The hospital ships are referred to as "maritime mobile hospitals," who were built to meet the medical rescue requirements for maritime operations. They mainly serve as marine medical rescue forces featuring mobility, flexibity, and quick response.
In 2008, hospital ship Peace Ark was commissioned to the PLA Navy, elevating China to one of the few countries in the world with the capability of providing ocean-going medical rescue services. With its commissioning, three-dimensional rescue drills at sea and international humanitarian medical rescue drills have gradually become regular practices.
To date, Peace Ark has traveled a total distance of over 260,000 nautical miles and has successively visited 43 countries and regions, providing medical services to more than 250,000 people. This big white ship of the PLA Navy vividly embodies the practical efforts of China’s military in promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for humanity.
In 2010, Peace Ark embarked on its inaugural Harmony Mission. At the Peltier Hospital in Djibouti, a doctor assigned to Peace Ark took a critically ill patient who required a life-saving craniotomy.
Locally, craniotomy is considered taboo. Back on the ship, the doctor reported to the director. The director firmly declared, "Any taboo must yield in the face of life." With excellent professional skills, the operation was completed. The patient's life lamp was relit and became a local legend.
Over the years, the most common praise for Peace Ark is "Thank you, China", the most evaluated is "China is a good friend and brother" and the most popular expectation is "When will you come again". Others said that besides the Great Wall and pandas, Peace Ark has become China's third famous brand.
In 2015, at the Port of Papeete, French Polynesia, a representative placed a large conch in the hand of the then commanding officer during the farewell ceremony for the hospital ship "Peace Ark". "When the conch blows, we will think of our friends in China," he said. This year marks the 5th time that Peace Ark has carried out the Harmony Mission task.
In Bangladesh, the first "Peace Bab", Alifa Chin ("China" in Bengali)), was born aboard the hospital ship "Peace Ark". The child's parents also developed a deep friendship with the anesthesiologist Sheng Ruifang. Many years later, when the hospital ship visited Bangladesh again, Chin made a special trip to visit her Chinese mother.
In November 2022, the 7th "Peace Baby" was born on the hospital ship in Jakarta, Indonesia. The parents named the baby Fangzhou (ark in Chinese) .
In the Dominican Republic, a woman had a fist-sized keloid removed from her right ear, restoring her beauty and confidence.
In the Philippines, Head Nurse Cai Weiping never left a two-year-old patient, administering fluids and medications, and occasionally wiping the child's forehead with alcohol-soaked cotton balls.
In Grenada, on the night the hospital ship Peace Ark arrived, ophthalmologist Shi Qianzhi performed cataract surgery on an elderly man.
With its pristine white hull and a Red Cross emblem, the hospital ship Peace Ark, in contrast to the coldness and grandeur of warships, exudes an air of gentleness that showcases China's image as a responsible great power and its navy as open and confident.
In Timor-Leste, a retired veteran who was shot in the back of his right shoulder during the war sought help from Chinese military doctors after 26 years of enduring pain. Upon examination, a three-centimeter-long shrapnel was found still lodged in his shoulder.
To extract the shrapnel that had been embedded in the human body for 26 years, military doctors meticulously devised a surgical plan and successfully conducted the operation. Upon discharge, the veteran remarked, "On this warship without missiles and artillery, I feel the blessings of peace."
As the spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense said, shouldering the mission of humanitarian relief, the Peace Ark upholds the belief that "life comes first" and promotes the Red Cross spirit of "humanity, fraternity and dedication". It has painted a "heart-shaped" track on the world map and became a "ship of life" for many people all over the world.