Singaporean tank landing ship RSS Endurance and its 212 crew Tuesday arrived at Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong Province, where it is paying a four-day friendly visit to the South China Sea Fleet.

 

The Singaporeans will tour the city of Zhanjiang, a prosperous port city in Guangdong Province, visit China-made warships, and have football and basketball matches and other cultural change activities with Chinese counterparts.

 

The RSS Endurance is 141 meters long, 21 meters wide with a discharge capacity of 6,000 tons. Its main weapons include one 76-mm OTO chase gun and two ship-to-air missiles.

 

The Chinese and Singaporean navies have had steady contact ever since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in 1990.

 

The Singaporean warship Intrepid paid its first visit to Shanghai in November 1998. China's "Shenzhen" guided missile destroyer started its maiden trip to Changi port of Singapore in November 2003.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2006)