Practical ocean drills for naval trainees in full swing A Chinese naval trainee carries out ocean chart operations together with a Pakista...

Practical ocean drills for naval trainees in full swing

A Chinese naval trainee carries out ocean chart operations together with a Pakistani classmate. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

An instructor instructs trainees on how to use a sextant.[Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

Chinese and Bengali naval trainees discuss how to use a sextant. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

The ocean drills for naval trainees on the naval vessel Zhenghe are in full swing, and trainees from China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South Korea are jointly taking part in the subjects of "Earth Voyage", "Celestial Voyage", and "Maritime Meteorology"

On the back deck of the Zhenghe vessel, trainees from all these countries will first study the subject of the Celestial Voyage, locating and positioning a vessel via the stars.

In the classrooms, trainees carry out basic chart operations and use a variety of sketching tools. The trainees from China are able to communicate with foreign trainees fluently in English and can help each other in solving problems.

Li Ninglei, trainee from the Dalian Naval Academy, participated in the National Day military parade in 2009. He said, "I feel pressured attending classes and sketching charts with foreign trainees, but it is also a motivation for me to display the excellent quality of Chinese naval trainees in the face of foreign counterparts.

David, a naval trainee from Pakistan said it was the first time for him to attend training with the Chinese navy, and he is happy to learn with them.

The basic knowledge for the navy is similar in different countries despite diverse cultural traditions and backgrounds.