14 February 2024

China Maritime Report #35: “Beyond Chinese Ferry Tales: The Rise of Deck Cargo Ships in China’s Military Activities, 2023”

J. Michael Dahm

The China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) is pleased to provide you with China Maritime Report (CMR) #35, “Beyond Chinese Ferry Tales.”

This CMR is the most comprehensive open source report anywhere detailing Chinese civilian shipping support to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) during 2023. Authored by Mike Dahm, this CMR is a follow-on to his previous CMR contributions including China Maritime Report No. 16 and China Maritime Report No. 25, which assessed PLA use of civilian shipping for logistics over-the-shore (LOTS) and amphibious landings between 2020 and 2022.

CMR #35, “Beyond Chinese Ferry Tales” highlights observed increases in inter-theater coordination including synchronized civil maritime military events across the PLA’s military theaters. It compliments information about deck cargo ships discussed in the just-published CMSI Note #4 published. It describes surge lift events involving roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) ferries and identifies variable height loading ramps used by commercial vessels that may enable them to offload in ports regardless of tidal variations. Moreover, it provides imagery of a floating causeway system used to deploy forces to a beach landing area. There is much more critically useful information contained in this CMR.

One particularly noteworthy aspect of this particular CMR is that it contains dozens of tables, graphics, pictures, commercial imagery, and maps – to include a comprehensive listing of civilian/commercial ships observed supporting military events in 2023. The meticulous details compiled by Mr. Dahm makes it especially useful as a handy reference for all cross-Strait, PLA & China-Taiwan watchers.

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