Thursday, April 02, 2009

China To Rotate Warships In Anti-Piracy Operation Off Somalia

China To Rotate Warships In Anti-Piracy Operation Off Somalia
(NSI News Source Info) BEIJING - April 2, 2009: China sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden on Thursday morning to replace two destroyers involved in an operation against Somali pirates since late December, Chinese media reported. The Type 051B Luhai-class is a class of destroyer built by the People's Republic of China. It consists of only one ship, No.167 Shenzhen. When Shenzhen was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy in 1998, it was then, the largest surface combatant that China had ever built. It resembles in many ways an enlarged version of the Luhu class destroyer, and is one of the first PLAN ships with a slope-sided hull to reduce radar signature. The DD-167 Shenzhen destroyer and the FFG-570 Huangshan frigate are carrying two helicopters, missiles, and about 800 crew members, including a naval special force unit, the Xinhua news agency said. China's Weishanhu supply ship will remain in the Gulf of Aden. Around 20 warships from the navies of at least a dozen countries are involved in anti-piracy operations off Somalia. According to the United Nations, Somali pirates carried out at least 120 attacks on ships in 2008, resulting in combined ransom payouts of around $150 million. Russia sent a task force from its Pacific Fleet on Sunday to relieve warships involved in the anti-piracy operation near Somalia since the beginning of January.

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