On 24 January a People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) task group returned to its home port of Zhanjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province, after completing a range of escort missions and joint exercises.
The Task Group, comprising the guided-missile destroyer Jiaozuo, the missile frigate Xuchang, and the comprehensive replenishment vessel Honghu, commenced its long deployment on 21 February 2024. It was the 46th rotation of a PLA-N presence in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia. The Task Group steamed over 160,000 nautical miles during its 339-day deployment.
Besides its work in the Gulf of Aden the ships participated in a multilateral joint maritime exercise in Nigeria, the celebration of the 328th founding anniversary of the Russian Navy, and an international navy festival in South Africa. They also visited Egypt and made port calls in South Africa, Morocco and the Seychelles.
In December 2008 China first began dispatching warships to carry out vessel protection operations in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.
Source: PLA
