China’s Aircraft Carrier Trouble—Spewing Steam and Losing Power

War is Boring ^ | Oct 19, 2014 | Robert Beckhusen

[sukhoi-30mki]

‘Liaoning’ shut down during recent sea trials

There’s no more of a conspicuous and potent symbol of China’s growing naval power than the aircraft carrier Liaoning.

But the 53,000-ton, 999-foot-long carrier could be dangerous to her crew and prone to engine failures. If so, that makes the vessel as much of a liability as an asset to Beijing.

The ex-Soviet carrier once went by the name Varyag until a cash-strapped Ukraine sold the ship to Beijing in 1998. The Chinese navy has since invested considerable resources into modernizing the warship and testing her at sea.

But on at least one occasion during recent sea trials, Liaoning appeared to suffer a steam explosion which temporarily knocked out the carrier’s electrical power system. The failure, reported by Chinese media site Sina.com, resulting from a leak in “the machine oven compartment to the water pipes.”

We’re only able to glimpse at the carrier’s engine problems, as we know very little about what’s inside the ship. This includes even what kind of engines Liaoning has.

The Chinese government also doesn’t like to admit to problems with its military hardware. When it does—and that’s never guaranteed—the admissions often come months or years after problems come up.

The Liaoning battle group during sea trials. Photo via China Defense Blog. At top—Varyag under tow.

Photo via Naval War College/Wikimedia

During the accident, hot water and steam began “spewing” out of the engine’s oven compartment, Sina.com reported. One cabin became “instantly submerged in water vapor,” the report added.

The crew immediately evacuated the cabin, with one officer apparently pulling a sailor out by his collar to save him from the extremely hot steam. The carrier then lost power, but the crew “eventually restored power to ensure the smooth operation of the ship.”

Fortunately, this doesn’t appear to have been a catastrophic boiler failure of the kind that would unleash almost instantaneously lethal, high-pressure steam. It’s possible Liaoning instead suffered a low-pressure steam release involving a faulty heat exchanger. Vessels commonly use heat exchangers to control water temperature necessary for regulating internal power and heating.

The Chinese navy began modernizing the ex-Varyag in 2005—essentially rebuilding the carrier from the inside. New electronics, self-defense anti-aircraft guns and new engines were just some of the upgrades. The warship in her unimproved condition was a “basket case,” an unnamed officer told the Website.

Engine failures are not an unknown phenomenon aboard ex-Soviet carriers. The 40,000-ton displacement Indian carrier Vikramaditya—first a Soviet Kiev-class carrier commissioned in 1987 and sold in 2004—temporarily shut down at sea after a boiler overheated two years ago.

The 50,000-ton Russian carrier Admiral Kuznetsov also goes nowhere without a tug escort in case her engines break down while underway.

The Chinese navy isn’t going to get rid of Liaoning any time soon. She’s Beijing’s first serviceable carrier and the ship is a valuable resource for naval flight operations. Even if China never sends her into battle, she’s useful for training and learning how carriers work.

But powerplant problems can also make it so China can do little else. Failures can add costly repairs, shorten the vessel’s lifespan and force her to crawl along the water at slow speeds. Beijing also lacks large overseas naval bases—a necessity if trouble arises while Liaoning sails far from China’s shores.

If she ever does. Liaoning is more alike to its ex-Soviet cousins than different—confined to home ports and restricted from challenging rivals like India.

“Since China began to send navy convoys on anti-piracy missions to the Gulf of Aden and the Somali coast in 2008,” military analyst Liu Zhongmin wrote in Global Times in 2010. “The lack of overseas bases has emerged as a major impediment to the Chinese navy’s cruising efficiency.”

Now add the possibility of engine problems.

[Captain Rhino]

I was wondering primarily because GT/diesel electric combinations are being used for the new class of LHDs now being built (Wasp class and America class). But, reflecting on what you wrote, they are not quite half the tonnage as Nimitz-class carriers and do not have the same launch and high speed transit requirements.

Thanks for taking time to answer my questions.

[GingisK]

If the Chicoms want a carrier they can trust, they'll have to build their own...

Given the weird political climate we have right now, I'm sure we would be happy to build them a few. After all, we've given them way too much already; so, why stop now? (Other than good sense, of course.)

[Jeff Head]

I’ve seen the reports and had the original Chinese report translated.

Apparently thy had a low pressure steam line break and the crew was able to make repairs pretty quickly.

The vessel did not and is not returning to port. It’s been out on exercises for the last 50 days. The incident apparently was fairly minor and the vessel was able to continue on with its exercises.

It’s a large, conventionally powered aircraft carrier. The machinery spaces are complex. Their snipes, like our own used to be, are trained to maintain it and effect repairs. That’s what they did.

I do not take this event as a particularly bad or negative event for their program. More like their crew repairing a minor failure while at sea. This kind of thing happens.

If it had been truly serious in any way, they would have returned to port. Its the flagship of their navy.

[Joe Brower]

Thanks, Jeff. I always find your posts about this topic very educational.

The world is not sitting still simply because we are. In fact, it is inspired to move faster.

[reed13k]

Nah I love to talk about this stuff. GT/D has likely come a long way since I was around in the mid-90s, but I do have some concerns for the LHDs going that route. Likely be ok though, just an old bias on my part likely.