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April 22 (UPI) -- China launched a second amphibious assault ship on Wednesday, the 40,000-ton Type 075, more than a week after fire was reported on the new vessel. The People's Liberation's Army is launching the assault ship with plans to build a total of four assault ships by 2025, Chinese state tabloid Global Times and Hong Kong's Oriental Daily News reported Wednesday.
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According to reports, the Type 075 first-in-class amphibious vessel was launched at Hudong Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, at 1:30 p.m.
China remains wary of the novel coronavirus, but the country has claimed the situation has largely stabilized.
The new Type 075 is capable of carrying out various missions at sea and is a self-developed Chinese amphibious vessel, state media said.
The launch comes after China's maritime safety administration issued a "ban on entry" for boats planning to navigate waters near the shipyard located on the Pudong side of the Huangpu River in Shanghai.
China's second Type 075 rivals the USS Wasp, a U.S. Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship. The Chinese vessel is capable of sailing at 30 knots and can carry up to 1,208 crew and 28 helicopters, according to reports.
The amphibious assault ship can also be equipped with China's HongQi-10 surface-to-air missile system and a close-in weapon system that can deliver 10,000 shots per minute, reports say.
China's military plans to deploy four Type 075 assault ships in sequence by 2025, in addition to an aircraft carrier.
Prior to the launch, fire was reported at the shipyard.
"While the fire damage looks superficial on the outside, there is no way to tell what kind of damage was done inside the [landing helicopter dock] and if the incident will affect the expected start of sea trials," Naval News reported earlier in April.
