Commercial satellite imagery taken on 24 May has confirmed that the seventh Type 055 (Renhai)-class destroyer to be constructed for China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has entered the water at the Jiangnan Changxingdao shipyard near Shanghai. There had been a degree of uncertainty surrounding the launch. The ship was visible in the background of a photograph published on an online forum on 28 April decked with the bunting associated with a ship's launch, but there were no further photographs to confirm the launch nor any official confirmation. Subsequent online posts stated that the ship had actually been launched on 9 May, but these reports could not be verified either. The 24 May satellite image shows the ship in the fitting-out basin, berthed alongside the previous Type 055, the fifth of the class, to be launched at Changxingdao.
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