中国「南海艦隊」潛水艇、在印度洋入水

A few weeks ago the Yomiuri News on-line reported the following:

中国「南海艦隊」潜水艦、インド洋で浸水事故

2014年12月25日 23時36分

　【北京＝五十嵐文】中国共産党機関紙・人民日報系の「環球時報」（電子版）などは、南シナ海を管轄する中国海軍の「南海艦隊」所属の通常型潜水艦が、インド洋を航行中、電気系統の破損や船内の一部浸水などの事故を起こしていたと伝えた。

　時期は今年前半とみられる。

　外洋型海軍を目指す中国軍の潜水艦は９月にスリランカに初めて寄港したことが伝えられているが、今回の事故により、インド洋で活発化する中国軍潜水艦の活動の様子が浮き彫りになった。

　中国中央テレビなどによると、当時、潜水艦は船体が突然、沈下。水圧で電気系統の破損や浸水が起きた。急激な沈下は海水濃度の異なる海域に入ったために起こる現象とされる。沈下は３分間続いたが、乗員が圧縮空気を送り込むなどして浮力を回復させたという。

(試譯文)

  The "Global Times" (electronic edition) etc. which was under the People’s Daily system of the Chinese Communist Party organization reported that a traditional submarine affiliated to the "Southern sea fleet" of the Chinese navy which monitored the South China Sea had an accident: while sailing in the Indian Ocean some part of the ship took in water due to electrical system failure.

  The timing was judged to be at the first half this year (2014).

  It was said that aiming at becoming an open sea type navy, a submarine of the Chinese military stopped at Sri Lanka for the first time in September (2014). From this accident, a situation which showing the active state of the Chinese military’s submarine in the Indian Ocean was highlighted.

  According to the Chinese central television, on that day, the hull of the submarine sank suddenly. Due to the water pressure, the electrical system failed and flooding occurred. The sudden sinking was a phenomenon happened when entering a sea area where the seawater density was different. It was said that the sinking continued for 3 minutes. But as the crew sent in compressed air, buoyancy was recovered.

It is an interesting incident. No wonder India is trying to strengthen its national defense.