A Chinese squid fishing vessel operating in South American waters as a hospital made 13 emergency port calls to Callao, Peru, between October 2021 and February 2024, reports Mongabay.

The vessel, Zhe Pu Yuan 98, transferred 15 critically ill crew members. In total, 37 sick or injured crew members and one deceased worker were brought to port from Chinese vessels during this period.

Maritime experts warn the arrangement may help vessels avoid port controls while raising serious safety concerns. "You cannot have a hospital and at the same time be a fishing vessel; the sanitation standards are not the same," said Milko Schvartzman, an expert in Chinese fleet operations.

The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation has no regulatory framework for vessels serving dual roles as fishing and medical ships. 

In July 2020 a team from The Outlaw Ocean Project, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit journalism group, confirmed that the Zhe Pu Yuan 98 was being used as a floating hospital for the Chinese fleet of squid vessels operating on the high seas, according to the article.