A flag-raising ceremony was held at Cam Ranh military port in central coastal Khanh Hoa province on April 3 to receive two Russian built submarines.

The submarines, named HQ-182 Hanoi and HQ-183 Ho Chi Minh City, have been delivered to Vietnam pursuant to a 2009 contract signed during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Moscow for the purchase of six diesel-powered 636 Varshavyanka (kilo)-class submarines.

A Kilo-class submarine christened HQ-183 Ho Chi Minh docked at Cam Ranh Bay in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa during the overnight hours of March 19.

With their super-low noise level, these submarines are called ‘black holes in the ocean’.

The 3rd kilo submarine, HQ-184 Hai Phong, is 73.8 meters long and 9.9 meters wide. It has a displacement of 3,000-3,950 tonnes and an operation range of 6,000-7,500 nautical miles.

The vessel can travel at 20 nautical miles per hour and operate for 45 consecutive days with a crew of 52 members at an average depth of 240 meters, which can be extended to 300 meters at most.

The fourth Russian-built submarine, named HQ-185 KhanhHoa entered Cam Ranh Bay in the central province of Khanh Hoa on June 30.

A flag-raising ceremony for two new submarines was held at Cam Ranh military port in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa on August 1.