10,000-Ton Chinese Hospital Ship Docks At Cote d’Ivoire In First Visit To The Country

For the first time ever, the Chinese Navy’s hospital ship, the Auspicious Ark, reached Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire for a friendly visit and to offer medical services to the locals, as part of Mission Harmony 2026.

When the ship pulled into the port, it was welcomed by residents who held banners and waved flags of Côte d’Ivoire and China. The military and government officials, China’s Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, and the Staff of the Chinese Embassy welcomed it. China’s naval personnel and port officials were also present in the welcoming ceremony. The ship’s staff waved back and accepted the greetings.

Once the ceremony was over, the Ivorian Navy’s Chief of Staff boarded the ship and toured it. He also met the ship’s doctors and held discussions with them regarding the medical services. The naval ship is scheduled to stay at the port for a week, during which it will offer medical treatment to local communities.

The doctors on board the ship would visit the Military Hospital in Abidjan and also a University to raise awareness about common diseases and how to prevent them. They would meet local leaders as well as students for the same.

China shares amiable diplomatic relations with Côte d’Ivoire, with a long-lasting partnership which began in 1983. Both countries wish to renew it through this medical mission as a sign of mutual trust, respect and welfare for the citizens in both countries.

Auspicious Ark is a Type 920 Hospital Ship which has 18 clinical departments and 8 operating theatres. The 10,000-ton vessel was commissioned in 2025, and this visit is its first overseas humanitarian deployment. It left the Port of Qingdao in China’s Shandong Province in July for a 200-day deployment covering several ports across South Asia and Africa.

The ship has a medical team of more than 100 well-qualified, trained, and experienced doctors from the PLA Northern Theater Command Navy and the Naval Medical University.

Before reaching Abidjan, the ship stopped in Guinea between October 3 and October 10, 2026, where it treated locals onboard and also sent units to the China-Guinea Friendship Hospital.

After departing from there, it reached Côte d’Ivoire on October 14, 2026. Oil producers in the Gulf are conducting ship-to-ship transfers outside Hormuz waters, stretching to India’s west coast as the regional waters have become too congested with ships.