Destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov Started Escorting First Convoy

16.05.2012 Northern Fleet (NF) destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov on May 15 started her anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden by escorting the first merchant convoy.

The convoy was formed at assigned point in southern part of the Red Sea. It consists of four merchant vessels flying flags of Marshall Islands, Panama, and Turkey.

Crew of the Russian destroyer will have to escort foreign ships through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the destination point in the western part of the Arabian Sea.

The trip is going to be finished on Friday. Then the Russian warship will escort another convoy backwards.

NF destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov left the fleet's main base Severomorsk on Apr 6. Through her cruise, the ship has covered about 6,000 nautical miles. In Apr 2012, destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov paid a formal call at port of Souda (Greece) where the ship's officers and mariners had an opportunity to visit NATO's international naval operations training center. The NF mariners exchanged counter-piracy experience with their foreign colleagues and held a number of practical drills. Leading the Russian Navy's task unit formed in the Mediterranean Sea, destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov on Apr 29 passed the Suez Canal and entered the Red Sea, reports Northern Fleet's press service.