ISTANBUL

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday confirmed that a Chinese amphibious ship was detected off the island's northern coast for the first time, after local media earlier reported the incident.

A Type Chinese 072A landing ship, which is a large amphibious warfare tank carrier, was earlier reported by local media Tuesday after a passenger on a commercial airplane took photos of the vessel shortly before landing at Taipei Songshan Airport on Friday, according to state news agency Focus Taiwan.

This kind of amphibious vessel typically has a displacement of 3,770 metric tons and is capable of carrying two medium helicopters and four landing craft.

Chinese Type 072A can also carry 10 tanks and 250 fully armed troops, according to Air Force Institute of Technology officer Lin Yu-feng, as cited by the outlet.

Such amphibious warfare ships have previously been detected off the east coast, but this is the first time such a vessel was detected off the northern coast.

Separately, the ministry said Tuesday that it had detected seven Chinese People's Liberation Army sorties of aircraft and nine ships around the island up until 6 am local time (2200GMT Monday), adding that one of the aircraft reportedly crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.