PLA Tracking - 9 September

The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning returned to its home port of Qingdao on September 7, following a week of training exercises in the Bohai Sea from August 30 to September 6. On the same day, the country’s newest carrier, Fujian, was spotted entering the Bohai Sea, where it is expected to conduct training drills until September 25. Meanwhile, in the South China Sea, satellite imagery revealed that the Shandong was no longer docked at Sanya port as of September 8. It is believed that the carrier set sail to avoid Typhoon Yagi, which swept through the region over the weekend. This suggests that, for a brief period on September 6 or 7, all three of China’s active aircraft carriers - the Liaoning, Shandong, and Fujian - were likely at sea simultaneously, marking a rare event in the country’s aircraft carrier operations. Interactive map of PLA activities in the Indo-Pacific as of September 9.