A new top-of-the-line Chinese attack submarine sank at a shipyard in Wuhan in a pier accident

• One of China’s newest attack submarines sank at a shipyard in Wuhan.

• Satellite images show China’s efforts to save the nuclear-powered ship.

• China’s shipbuilding industry is enormous and is at the heart of the Navy’s modernization efforts.

One of China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarines sank at a shipyard in Wuhan, a US official told Business Insider, confirming earlier reports.

The Chinese submarine, reportedly the newest ship of the Zhou class, sank sometime after it was documented at the Wuchang Shipyard in Wuhan in late May. The incident was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Satellite images taken by Planet Labs after it sank showed large, floating cranes near the pier in June as China tried to rescue the ship.

The submarine that sank was the first of its class.

Thomas Shugart, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security think tank and former U.S. submarine officer, first posted images on X in July with cranes grouped around something in the water where the new submarine had previously stood. He also noted the presence of an oil containment wave and speculated that something “strange” was going on.

Satellite images from July 5 that Shugart shared online showed the cranes had been cleared, indicating efforts to save the ship had been completed.

Neither Beijing nor its military arm, the People’s Liberation Army, have addressed the sinking or the potential environmental risks.

A senior defense official told Business Insider what was told to the WSJ, stating that “it is not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to hide the fact that their new top-of-the-line nuclear-powered attack submarine sank at the dock.”

“In addition to the obvious questions about training standards and equipment quality,” the official said, “the incident raises deeper questions about the PLA’s internal responsibility and oversight of China’s defense industry – which has long been plagued by corruption.”

The sinking of the submarine comes as… Chinese shipbuilding industry continues to fuel its naval modernization plans. China’s shipbuilding capacity, for both commercial and military vessels, is enormous, and the country uses many of its shipyards for dual use build its navythe largest in the world.

The Pentagon has long identified China’s shipbuilding industry as key to the navy’s rapid build-out. The efforts are related to the modernization of the Chinese military, developments that have played a role in the US decides to shift its focus to the Indo-Pacific.

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