China put into use its independently designed deep-sea multifunctional rescue vessel, the Nanhaijiu 103, on January 30. The Nanhaijiu 103 was designed by the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute of the China Shipbuilding Group and built by the China Merchants Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. The vessel is equipped to conduct search and rescue operations, offshore towing, salvaging, firefighting, dive support, oil spill response monitoring, and command and control seaborne and airborne emergency response assets.