Navy escorts four vessels off Somalia on day

Chinese navy joined its counterparts from other countries to fight Somali pirates and successfully escorted the first fleet of ships through the Gulf of Aden yesterday.

Two navy destroyers and a large supply vessel escorted four Chinese merchant ships, one of which was from the Hong Kong special administrative region, off the coast of Somalia.

About 30 ships from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong have sought the navy's help to sail past the horn of Africa, where Somali pirates have created terror, especially in the past year.

The three navy ships entered the waters off Somalia around 1 am yesterday after having set sail from Sanya, Hainan province, on Dec 26. The UN Security Council and Somalia's transitional government both have approved of China's mission: to primarily escort Chinese merchant ships off Somalia's coast.

Yesterday's escort mission started at 11 am. The destroyer and flagship, the Wuhan, led the fleet, with another destroyer, the Haikou, making up the rear. The ships maintained a distance of 1 nautical mile during the 550-nautical-mile escort journey.

Liu Jianzhong, political commissar of the Haikou, told China Daily that the navy fleet would fulfill its responsibility of safeguarding China's civilian vessels.

Mission commander, Rear Admiral Du Jingchen, said: "We will earnestly follow UN resolutions and relevant international laws strengthen coordination and keep a close watch to ensure the security of the vessels and crew being escorted."

The UN Security Council adopted four resolutions toward the end of last year, calling on all countries and regions to help patrol the Gulf of Aden and the eastern part of Somalia's coast to thwart piracy in one of the world's busiest shipping channels.

In the latest incident, a Sierra Leone cargo ship, with 32 Chinese on board, threw off the pursuit of four pirate boats in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center said.

Questions:

1. When did the three navy ships arrive in Somalia waters?

2. What is the name of the destroyer and flagship?

3. The latest incident involved in cargo ship from where?

Answers:

1. Around 1 am yesterday(January 6).

2. Wuhan.

3. Sierra Leone.