2nd batch of warships head to Somali seas

ZHANJIANG, Guangdong: Naval commanders yesterday said the patrolling mission in Somali waters had entered a "stage of orderly replacement and normalization" as they flagged off the second batch of Chinese warships to rotate the current anti-piracy fleet in the Gulf of Aden.

The fleet, comprising of well-traveled destroyer Shenzhen and one-year-old frigate Huangshan, set sail yesterday morning from western Guangdong's Zhanjiang - headquarters of the South China Sea Fleet and a major Chinese harbor - in front of senior naval commanders, officers as well as the family members of the sailors.

"Security situations in the Somali waters are still challenging and unpredictable, so the replacing fleet will face an even more difficult task," said Admiral Wu Shengli, commander-in-chief of the People's Liberation Army Navy.