By Xue Fei and Liang Lihu
KARACHI, Pakistan, Feb. 18 -- A fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy composed of the guided-missile destroyer Guiyang (Hull 119), the missile frigate Zaozhuang (Hull 542) and the comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu (Hull 960) , completed the maritime drill of the multinational naval exercise “Peace-21,” in the waters off Karachi, Pakistan, running from February 15 to 16 local time.
The multinational naval exercise “Peace-21” kicked off on February 11, local time. From February 15 to 16, the PLA Navy fleet, together with participating vessels and aircraft from other countries, has carried out drills on training tasks including formation maneuver, maritime search and rescue, helicopter formation flying, and live-firing at sea, and also participated in the fleet review at sea.
At 10 am on February 15, the PLA Navy fleet rendezvoused with other counterparts in the designated waters, and conducted underway replenishment drill and anti-piracy drill afterward.
From the afternoon of February 15 to early February16, the PLA Navy fleet carried out drills on tasks such as formation maneuver and maritime search and rescue with vessels from Pakistan, Russia, the US, the UK, and other countries.
In the subsequent naval fleet review, the participating vessels marched in a single file, among which, the warship involved from the PLA Navy was inspected with sailors manning the rails on deck. The fleet review marked the ending of this joint naval exercise.
Wan Jun, commander of the PLA Navy fleet, said that the exercise served to strengthen the PLAN’s professional exchanges and friendly interactions with navies of other countries, and improve their capability to respond to multiple security threats and safeguard maritime peace of the region.