Zhuhai Cloud

Zhuhai Cloud (Chinese: 朱海云; pinyin: Zhu Hai Yun) is a oceanography research vessel designed for uncrewed operations in open waters^[2] and as a mother ship for uncrewed vehicles.^[1] She has been called the first "drone mothership"^[2] and the first "unmanned vehicle carrier".^[1]

History
Name	Zhuhai Cloud
Owner	Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Sun Yat-sen University
Builder	China State Shipbuilding Corporation Huangpu Wenchong
Laid down	July 2021[1]
Launched	May 2022[1]
General characteristics
Displacement	2,000 tonnes[2]
Length	88.5 metres (290 ft)[2]
Beam	14 metres (46 ft)[2]
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)[2] 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (maximum)[2]

The ship was built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation's Huangpu Wenchong for Sun Yat-sen University's Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory.^[1] The laboratory's goal is to surveil an underwater and above water area 50 nautical miles in diameter using a network of unmanned devices.^[1]

Zhuhai Cloud may have military applications. Timothy Heath, a RAND Corporation analyst, believes these include accurately mapping depths for submarines, and deploying smart mines.^[2]