China's third aircraft carrier, seen here as it embarked on its maiden sea trials on 1 May 2024. (Pu Haiyang/VCG via Getty Images)

China's third aircraft carrier has embarked on its maiden sea trials, state-controlled Xinhua News Agency announced in its report on 1 May.

The carrier, Fujian , left the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai at around 0800 h local time on the day of the announcement. These trials will primarily focus on testing the “reliability and stability of the aircraft carrier's propulsion and electrical systems”, reads the Xinhua report.

“Since its launch in June 2022, the Fujian has completed its mooring trials, outfitting work, and equipment adjustments. It has met the technical requirements for sea trials,” the report added.

Fujian was launched by Jiangnan Shipyard in June 2022. It is slated to be the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN's) third aircraft carrier overall, but it is the service's first vessel to be configured for catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) aircraft operations.

The US Navy has begun to improve its current public shipyards, such as the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, shown here. (US Navy)

A new labour agreement signed on 29 April that seeks to build a rotational workforce of skilled welders could eventually serve as template for a national workforce arrangement for work on naval ships, according to Edward L Bartlett Jr, founder and CEO of Bartlett Maritime Corporation (BMC) – the company that brokered the deal.

The impetus for the rotational welders was a plan to use such a workforce to work on naval ships in Charleston, South Carolina, Bartlett told Janes in an interview on 29 April.

BMC hopes to prove out the concept through the recentlysigned labour deal and similar follow-on agreements. BMC has also proposed to construct and operate component repair facilities in northeast Ohio with an option to build a new public naval shipyard in Charleston.

RFA Cardigan Bay will support the US military personnel by providing temporary offshore accommodation as they build a new temporary pier to deliver aid directly into Gaza. (UK MoD/Crown Copyright)

The UK Royal Navy's (RN's) Bay-class landing ship dock auxiliary (LSD(A)) vessel Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Cardigan Bay (L 3009) has been deployed to the coast of Gaza where it will provide support to US military building a new temporary floating pier that will facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into the country directly by sea, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed.

Cardigan Bay , which is en route to Gaza from Cyprus, will provide temporary offshore accommodation for personnel working on the offshore pier project, the MoD said.

The initiative will enable cargo ships to deliver pre-screened aid from Cyprus directly to the pier, where it will be loaded onto trucks to transfer across Gaza. It forms part of wider international efforts to expand the delivery of aid into Gaza and will complement efforts to get more aid in via land routes and the Port of Ashdod.

US military vessels, including USNS Benavidez,