The guided-missile frigate Weifang attached to the 28th Chinese naval escort taskforce berths at a naval port in Qingdao of East China’s Shandong province, Dec. 3, 2017. (Photo by Lai Yonglei)
GULF OF ADEN, Jan. 23 (ChinaMil) -- The guided-missile frigate Weifang of the 28th Chinese naval escort taskforce expelled one suspected pirate boat at the west waters of the Gulf of Aden on Jan 20, local time.
At about 8 a.m. on last Saturday morning, the Chinese frigate Weifang met with a merchant ship of Panama at the west waters of the Gulf of Aden, which was ready to pass the Gulf of Aden under the escort of the Chinese naval ship.
Suddenly, the radar operator on the Weifang reported that a suspicious small target was found at waters 3 nautical miles away on the starboard side of the frigate. The suspected pirate boat was approaching the merchant ship at high-speed.
The frigate Weifang immediately started the anti-piracy deployment with sailors, the special operations team members, heavy machine gunmen, and the ship-based helicopter all in combat readiness.
There were five people on the suspected boat. As it kept approaching the merchant ship, the Weifang fired signal shells and explosive bombs to deter and expel the suspected boat.
Seeing there was no advantage to take, the suspected boat retreated and left. The Chinese naval frigate Weifang then started to perform its mission, escorting the Panamanian merchant ship sailing to the east waters of the Gulf of Aden.
The 28th Chinese naval escort taskforce comprises the guided-missile frigates Yancheng and Weifang as well as the comprehensive supply ship Taihu. It is the second time that the frigate Weifang has been in an escort taskforce since it started military service in the PLA Navy's North China Sea Fleet in June of 2013. It joined the guided-missile frigate Linyiand supply ship Weishanhu to form the 19th Chinese naval escort taskforce perfoming four-month-long merchant ships escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and waters off somali coast from late December of 2014 to late April of 2015.