Suspected pirate mother ship! The 44th batch of naval escort formations safely escorted Panamanian merchant ships | waters | mother ships
In a certain area of the Gulf of Aden, the night is as dark as ink, and the sea breeze is gentle.
"Thank you to the Chinese Navy for escorting us!" At around 5am local time on June 2nd, with the safe arrival of the Panamanian merchant ship "Song of the Sea" near the coast of the Mand Strait, the 44th batch of escort fleets of the Chinese Navy successfully completed the 1568th batch of ship escort missions. The merchant ship expressed gratitude to the Chinese Navy through Channel 16.
Under the sunset, Zibo ships provide accompanying escort to protected merchant ships
On May 27th, just as the task handover with the 43rd escort fleet was completed, the 44th escort fleet received a request for escort from the merchant ship "Song of the Sea". The planned arrival time at the receiving point is in the middle of the night. The formation carefully organizes research on the hydrological and meteorological conditions of the navigation area and the task area, collects and organizes various background information, and based on the current pirate activity situation and the actual meteorological situation in the sea area, sends the Zibo ship to provide accompanying escort to the protected merchant ship.
Given the recent sea conditions and piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, the 44th batch of naval escort formations has strengthened communication and liaison with protected ships, organizing helicopter air patrols during special periods such as merchant ship assembly and complex sea areas.
▲ Helicopter aerial surveillance during escort process
The calm Gulf of Aden is not peaceful.
"Report to duty officer, heading 260, distance 99 chain, unidentified target detected, speed 4.5 knots." At around 23:00 that night, the navigation duty officer suddenly reported that there was a suspected pirate mother ship in front of the Zibo ship, towing three small boats at the stern.
Due to the diffuse light fog at sea, the Zibo ship uses various observation methods such as radar, photoelectric infrared, and laser night vision to monitor the target, and uses strong lights to sweep the sea and sound the whistle to drive away.
At the same time, the Zibo ship and the "Hailan Song" merchant ship adjusted their course in a timely manner and separated suspicious ships. After being intimidated by a series of warnings, the suspicious small boat turned around and left. "Pirates often use the cover of night to suddenly board and hijack passing merchant ships, and their attack methods are becoming increasingly cunning and eerie," said Zhang Wei, the leader of the formation command team.
▲ Special operations team members implement vigilance
This is the second time that Deputy Political Commissar Xiao Xianping of the Zibo ship has participated in escort. He sighed and said, "The Chinese Navy has made important contributions to maintaining regional peace through escort in the Gulf of Aden. As participants, we will continue to contribute to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind and the ocean."
