Type 082 - class minesweeper The Type 082 class minesweeper is a Chinese People ' s Liberation Army Navy ship class . It is also known as Wosao class in the west , but the correct Chinese name is actually Wusao , short for armed ( " Wu " - zhuang , 武裝 ) mine sweeping boat ( " Sao " - lei - ting , 掃雷 ) . Type 058 minesweeper . The origin of Type 082 series mine countermeasure vessel can be traced back all the way in November 1967 , when People ' s Liberation Army Navy ( PLAN ) issued an request of building riverine and gulf minesweeper constructed with low magnetic signature , which resulted in two minesweepers developed , one of which was Type 058 minesweeper . Design of Type 058 minesweeper was completed by the 708th Research Institute and China Shipbuilding Shipyard at Shanghai ( 上海中华造船厂 ) begun construction of Type 058 in the same year . The program experienced huge difficulties because the manufacturing technique of low magnetic steel , which was a type of manganese - aluminum - iron alloy . The biggest problem was that when this type of alloy was heated , it often left cracks behind in welding . The shipyard spent huge research effort and concluded that these micro cracks would not affect the strength and performance of alloy , and the project was able to continue . Type 058 minesweeper was the first Chinese low magnetic minesweeper in service , and construction of the first unit of this class begun in July , 1970 , launched two months later in September 1970 , and entered service in on December 12 , 1970 . This first unit and subsequent units were immediately sent to North Vietnam to clear mines laid by USA in the following year . Specifications : Type 7102 minesweeper . The other minesweeper resulted from PLAN ' s request of building riverine and gulf minesweeper constructed with low magnetic signature is Type 7102 minesweeper , which is constructed with fiberglass . Construction begun at Wuhu Shipyard in May 1972 , and after two years , it was launched in December 1974 . From April to September 1975 , a lengthy trial was conducted in Yangtze River and Wusong , and the boat finally entered service in November 1975 . For mine clearing operation , a specially designed Type 6135 generator with 1850 rpm was adopted , and Type 7102 minesweeper won an award from National Science Conference in 1978 . Specifications : Type 082 minesweeper . Although both Type 058 and Type 7102 minesweepers met their requirements , the backwardness of Chinese industrial and manufacturing capabilities limited both classes from being mass produced , resulting in only 20 Type 058 minesweeper and a single Type 7102 minesweeper being built . Decision was made to have a new class of minesweeper based on the technical experience gained from both classes , along with lessons learned from the deployment of Type 312 minesweeper in North Vietnam , and this is the origin of 082 minesweeper . This project was first issued in 1976 during the 3rd Conference on Mine Countermeasure Equipment , but due to the political turmoil in China , namely , the Cultural Revolution , actual construction did not begun until 1984 . The boat is jointly designed by the 708th and 710th institutes , and Jiangxin ( 江新 ) Shipbuilding Factory in Jiangxi was the contractor , with the first unit entering service in 1987 . The general designer was Mr . Ma Jinghua ( 馬錦華 ) , the same general designer of Wolei class minelayer . This class was consequently upgraded by doubling the number of engines and shafts , and most units were built by the Wusong Shipyard at Shanghai . This minesweeper carries Type 317 magnetic sweeping gear , Type 318 mechanical sweeping gear , Type 318 acoustic sweeping gear , and Type 319 infrasonic sweeping gear , and it can also be used as a minelayer with capability to carry 6 mines . The boat is powered by 4 M50 diesel , and more than half a dozen have entered Chinese service . The Pennant number of these units changed to 800 ' s series in 2004 from the original 4400 ' s . Type 082II minesweeper . Type 082II minesweeper / minehunter is the latest member of Chinese mine countermeasure vessels . The first unit , named Huoqiu on April 23 , 2005 , was launched in 2004 and entered Chinese service in June 2005 with pennant number 804 . From the design to its completion , it took more than a decade and cost over 600 million Yuan Renminbi . The Chinese industrial and manufacturing capability are finally mature enough to produce minesweepers with components built of fiberglass and steel with low magnetic signature at an acceptable price , but the exact content is unknown due to lack of official / governmental sources . Some Chinese internet websites claim that the superstructure is built with fiberglass and the hull was built with low magnetic signature steel , while others claim that the entire boat was build of fiberglass . The second unit with pennant number 818 named Kunshan , entered service in December 2011 . Some Chinese internet sources have claimed that this second unit is a all fiberglass construction boat , while the first was fiberglass superstructure mounted on low magnetic signature steel hull , because it took about half a decade for Chinese shipyards to master all fiberglass construction for boats of this size , but as with other claims about this class , all have yet to be verified by official or governmental sources . Built by Qiuxin Shipyard at Shanghai , Type 082II minesweeper / minehunter is called by west as Wozang class . Specifications : Type 529 minesweeper . Type 082II minesweeper / minehunter can work independently , but it can also work as a mother ship of a smaller minesweeper / minehunter , which can be operated remotely . Reported to be Type 529 minesweeper / minehunter , three units of this class have been observed , with pennant numbers 8181 , 8182 and 8183 respectively , and they are observed usually with Type 082 II class # 818 Kunshan . Designed to work mainly in conjunction with Type 082II , these boats can also work independently or other larger mine countermeasure vessels in Chinese navy . Type 529 minesweeper / minehunter appears to be the logical successor of Type 312 minesweeper , in that like its predecessor , Type 529 minesweeper / minehunter can be either manned or operated remotely .