Re: Somali pirates and Chinese navy
Three Chinese warships work independently in escort mission
At 06:00 of Jan 15, local time, the Chinese naval destroyer "Haikou" set out from the east mouth of the Mandeb Strait to escort the 3rd batch of merchant ships. At 11：00., local time on the same day, the Chinese naval destroyer "Wuhan" set sail from the eastern waters of the Gulf of Aden to carry out the 4th escort mission.
This is the first time for the two Chinese destroyers to escort two batches of merchant ships separately at the same time. The "Wuhan" warship escorted "Zhi Qiang" and "THOR SVENDBORG" to sail from the eastern waters of the Gulf of Aden to the east mouth of the Mandeb Strait, while the "Haikou" warship escorted "MAERSK Aiwen" to head for the eastern waters of the Gulf of Aden. The two ship fleets came from opposite directions and reached the safe sea areas on the morning of Jan 17 and the evening of Jan 16, local time, respectively.
At 07:00 on Jan 16, local time, after fulfilling successfully its maritime replenishment for the 3rd time, the Chinese naval comprehensive supply ship "Weishanhu" met at the western waters of the Gulf of Aden with Hong Kong cargo ship "Jinhui" and Taiwan merchant ship "Tianxing No. 7" (registered in Panama) on its way of transferring to another replenishing area. With the three ships sailing in a single file, the "Weishanhu" embarked on its 550 sea miles of escort trip. This is the first time that the "Weishanhu" supply ship has performed the accompanying escort mission since the Chinese naval fleet started to carry out escort operations in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast on January 6.
Since the Chinese Navy carried out the escort missions, it has been seeking better ways to raise the escort efficiency. And carrying out escort operation separately by the three Chinese naval warships has saved time for the merchant ships at the time of ensuring safety at sea.
