PLAN Anti-Piracy Deployments

DESTROYER WUHAN, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese naval fleet en route to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia for an escort mission against pirates completed its first replenishment at sea Tuesday.

The fleet, two destroyers and a supply ship, has entered the Indian Ocean after a four-day voyage which set sail from China's southernmost island province of Hainan.

In the afternoon, the supply ship Weishanhu successfully refueled the two destroyers Wuhan and Haikou with several hundred tons of oil, an operation that an official for fleet support described as "highly efficient."

The fleet will cruise for about 10 days before arriving in the Gulf of Aden to join a multinational patrol in one of the world's busiest sea lanes endangered by surging piracy.

The recent pirate attack on a Chinese fishing vessel has raised great concern of the Chinese government and people. Statistics showed that some 1,265 Chinese commercial vessels have passed through the gulf so far this year and seven have been attacked.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions calling on all countries and regions to help patrol the gulf and waters off Somalia since June. The latest resolution authorized countries to take all necessary measures in Somalia, including in its airspace to stop the pirates.

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China Navy's main goal is to escort ships during Somalia mission

BEIJING, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- A military scholar believes China is doing the right thing by dispatching a naval task force to escort ships and to protect them from pirates in waters off Somalia.

Colonel Ge Lide, researcher at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), was quoted by the weekly newspaper, Youth Reference, as saying, "As a responsible member of the international community, China is obliged to implement the United Nations Security Council resolutions to curb piracy on the high seas and protect the safety of marine routes."

The Chinese naval task force, which is made up of two missile destroyers and a supply vessel, set sail on Dec. 26. It is now on the Indian Ocean.

The PLA navy promised to escort Chinese merchant ships, which were harassed by pirates seven times in 2008. It will also escort foreign vessels on request.

Colonel Ge said, "With the discreet and above board naval deployment, China doesn't have any intentions of challenging the security or commercial interests of other countries in the region. We are simply interested in guarding the international waters from armed pirates, our common enemies."

The task force's commanding officer said their primary job would be escorts, not actively engaging pirates. He, however, did not rule out possible fire exchange.

The 800 or so Chinese crew include about 70 members of the PLA Navy special forces.

"I certainly believe the Navy would win against any threats and fulfill its lofty duty," Colonel Ge said in the newspaper.

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crobato said:

About 100 ships -- seven of them Chinese -- have been attacked by Somali pirates since the beginning of the year.

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There have more and more news that ships fight back or escape the pirate attacks

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The task force has already reached the Arabian Sea, their transit speed seems pretty fast.

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sinojosh123 said:

The only real way to deal with pirates is to get control of the ground, which will not happen anytime soon. Gives the navies of the world job security.

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