By Tupou Vaipulu Jr

A Chinese naval hospital ship, ‘Silk Road Ark’ is on a humanitarian mission to the Pacific and will be providing medical services in Tongatapu from 13-20 October.

The Chinese Embassy in Tonga said today that over 400 personnel, including more than 100 medical doctors, nurses and pharmacists, are on board.

During their seven-day mission in Tonga they will offer medical treatments inlcuding physical examinations, surgeries and also traditional Chinese medicine.

On Tongatapu, medical teams will be dispatched from the ship to community clinics or schools for further outreach into villages in Hahake and Hihifo.

On this voyage the Silk Road Ark visited Nauru recently and will stop in Fiji on it's way to Tonga.

Peace Ark

The Silk Road Ark in terms of load displacement, endurance capacity and upgraded medical equipment.

The Silk Road Ark hospital ship, commissioned in 2024 is said to be more advanced than its sister ship the Peace Ark – which conducted humanitarian medical missions to Tonga in 2014, 2018 and 2023.

During their most recent mission to Tonga, the Peace Ark provided 6,895 medical services including 5,800 on the ship and 1095 at three different health centres.