BEIJING, April 11 -- At 5 p.m. on April 4, local time, three Chinese fishing vessels arrived at the terminal of their escorted journey in the west of the Gulf of Aden under the escort of the guided-missile frigate Yueyang (Hull 575) attached to the 40th Chinese naval escort taskforce. This merchant ship escort mission lasted more than 56 hours with a voyage exceeding 590 nautical miles. So far the Chinese naval escort taskforces have provided escort for 1482 batches of Chinese and foreign ships in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia since the mission started in 2008.
The three fishing vessels being escorted this time are small in tonnage and low in freeboard. During the escort, vigilance methods including helicopter air patrol and photoelectric radar monitoring were used to ensure the safety of the escorted vessels.
Sun Lin, leader of the Chinese fishing vessels, expressed his gratitude through radio: "We feel safe and relieved to be escorted by the Chinese warships, and we are proud of our motherland."
