 Type 917 is the first ship in PLAN to adopt a trimaran hull.The advantage of trimaran include stability and high speed in rough seas, and large deck area equivalent to much larger ship, thus enabling small ship to carry helicopter that can only be carried by larger ships in traditional monohull design.Designed by the Multihull Ship Technology National Defense Important Academic Majors Laboratory (多体船技术国防重点学科实验室) of Harbin Engineering University, Type 917 carries a pair of newly designed rescue boat, with one on each side, stored in the davit position.