China's anti-pirate fleet returns from Somali waters

The 15th escort squad of the Chinese Navy returned home on Thursday from Somali waters, its mission complete. The fleet comprising amphibious docking vessel Jinggangshan, missile frigate Hengshui and supply ship Taihu, arrived at a navy port in Zhanjiang city in south China's Guangdong Province, on Thursday morning. During the mission in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, which lasted 169 days, the flotilla escorted 181 commercial vessels as well as a vessel of the United Nations World Food Programme. The escort fleet also made friendly visits to Tanzania, Kenya and Sri Lanka, and conducted friendly exchanges with escort fleets of the European Union, the United States and NATO. It also held a joint drill with the Ukrainian escort fleet. China sent its first convoy fleet to the area in December 2008.