Type 744 buoy tender and its derivatives with the NATO reporting name Yannan (延南) class is a class of Chinese buoy tender that is in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Chinese civilian governmental establishments. It is a boat or vessel which services and replaces buoys.

Precursors Type 985 Type 744 derived from the Type 985 buoy tender, the first purpose built buoy tender in the Chinese inventory. Type 985 is designed to be the replacement of earlier buoy tenders converted from former US Navy net laying ships. In the early 1980s, maritime navigational responsibility was transferred from PLAN to Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China (MOT). Type 985 was among the equipment transferred from PLAN to MOT and has remained in civilian service since.

Type 994 Type 994 buoy tender is the larger cousin of the smaller Type 985 buoy tender, from which it is developed. Like Type 985, all units of this class were transferred to civilian service under MOT:

Type 744 and 744A Type 744 employs design modifications based on the experience gained on earlier ships. Type 744 is designed by the 708th Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation. The 708th Institute is more commonly known as China Shipbuilding and Oceanic Engineering Design Academy. Construction began in December 1979 and four were completed, with the last ship entering service in May 1981. There are two subtypes, the civilian version Type 744 and the naval version Type 744A. The most obvious external visual difference between Types 744 and Type 744A is that the gun mount at in the bow of the naval version Type 744A is replaced by a mast in the civilian version. The ship received NATO reporting name as Yannan (延南) class. One of the Type 744A ships, Dongbiao 263, retired from Chinese Navy on August 1, 2015, and transferred to civilian service. Specification:Type 744 Length between perpendiculars (m): 66.6 Beam (m): 11.8 Depth (m): 6 Draft (m): 4 Displacement (t): 1750 Class notation: ZC Crew: 44 Bunks: 52 Fuel oil tank (cu m): 161 Fresh water tank (cu m): 276 Propulsion: Two 8NVD48A-20 diesel engine @ 973 kW each Diesel generator: 72 kW x 4 Crane: PBW 12/15 60 kW x 1

Ships Type NATO designation Pennant No. Name(English) Name(Han 中文) Builder Commissioned Length Displacement Fleet Status Type 985 ? Hai-Biao 624 Sea Buoy 624 海标 624 Jiangnan Shipyard 1966 65.22 1120 t All fleets <span style="color:red">Retired</span style="color:red"> Type 994 ? Various Various Various Jiangnan Shipyard 1970s ? 1750 t All fleets <span style="color:red">Retired</span style="color:red"> Type 744 Yannan-class Hai-Biao 11 Sea Buoy 11 海标 11 Jiangnan Shipyard Early 1980s 72.35 2,000 t China Maritime Safety Administration <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green"> Hai-Biao 12 Sea Buoy 12 海标 12 Jiangnan Shipyard Early 1980s 72.35 2,000 t China Maritime Safety Administration <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green"> Hai-Biao 21 Sea Buoy 21 海标 21 Jiangnan Shipyard Early 1980s 72.35 2,000 t China Maritime Safety Administration <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green"> Hai-Biao 24 Sea Buoy 1 海标 24 Jiangnan Shipyard Early 1980s 72.35 2,000 t China Maritime Safety Administration <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green"> Hai-Biao 25 Sea Buoy 1 海标 25 Jiangnan Shipyard Early 1980s 72.35 2,000 t China Maritime Safety Administration <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green"> Hai-Biao 31 Sea Buoy 31 海标 31 Jiangnan Shipyard Early 1980s 72.35 2,000 t China Maritime Safety Administration <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green"> Type 744A Bei-Biao 982 North Buoy 982 北标 982 Jiangnan Shipyard March 1981 72.35 2,000 t North Sea Fleet <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green"> Bei-Biao 983 North Buoy 983 北标 983 Jiangnan Shipyard May 1981 72.35 2,000 t North Sea Fleet <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green"> Dong-Biao 263 East Buoy 263 东标 263 Jiangnan Shipyard December 6, 1980 72.35 2,000 t East Sea Fleet <span style="color:red">Retired & transferred to civilian agency on August 1, 2015.</span style="color:red"> Nan-Biao 463 South Buoy 463 南标 463 Jiangnan Shipyard December 14, 1980 72.35 2,000 t South Sea Fleet <span style="color:green">Active</span style="color:green">

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