Pacific Fleet Warships Escorted Over 80 Vessels through Gulf of Aden in 2011

05.01.2012 In 2011, Pacific Fleet (PF) warships continued securing civilian shipping in the Gulf of Aden which is still considered a piracy-hazardous area.

PF task unit consisting of large ASW ship Admiral Vinogradov, tanker Pechenga, and salvage tug SB-522 had finished their anti-piracy mission in the spring of 2011. The unit was headed by Capt 1 rank Ivan Kovalev.

Throughout over 4 months of anti-piracy watch in the Gulf of Aden, the fifth PF task unit had escorted via safety corridor 14 convoys with commercial vessels from 17 countries.

In Aug 2011, combat watch near the Horn of Africa was resumed. The sixth PF anti-piracy unit led by large ASW ship Admiral Panteleyev departed from the PF main naval base heading for that region.

Underway to the Gulf of Aden, the PF task unit headed by Capt 1 rank Andrei Saprykin paid the first in Russia's history friendly visit to Cambodian port of Sihanoukville in Sept 8-13, 2011.

Being deployed in the Indian Ocean, PF mariners had performed six convoys, paid formal visits to ports of Djibouti and Victoria (Seychelles). Early Dec 2011 they participated in the parliamentary elections voting on board the ships.

The seventh PF anti-piracy unit led by large ASW ship Admiral Tributs was dispatched on Dec 10 to shift Admiral Panteleyev. The unit is headed by PF Primorskaya Flotilla Deputy Commander Capt 1 rank Ildar Akhmerov.

Therefore, PF antisubmariners met the new year of 2012 in the Strait of Malacca between the Sumatra Island and the Malay Peninsula in tropical latitudes.

Totally, in 2011 PF warships have escorted 20 convoys through piracy-risky zones with over 80 vessels flying various flags including the Russian one.