Naval escort taskforce commander meets with EU counterpart

Yang Junfei, commander of the 11th Chinese naval escort taskforce of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and deputy commander of the North China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the PLA, met with Dupuis, commander of the European Union (EU) No 465 naval escort taskforce and rear admiral of the French Navy, on July 17, 2012, local time, in the western waters of the Gulf of Aden.

At 09:30, Yang Junfei and his party totaling four persons boarded the "Marne River" comprehensive supply ship of the French Navy by a ship-borne helicopter on the "Qingdao" guided missile frigate of the PLA Navy. Dupuis extended welcome to Yang Junfei and his party for their visit to the ship. He said that the Chinese naval escort taskforce has organized high-standard and responsible escort operations and ensured the safety of the passing Chinese and foreign commercial ships.

Yang Junfei said that the meeting will further deepen the friendship and cooperation between the two sides and play a positive role in jointly completing the task of combating pirates.

During the meeting, the two sides also exchanged the information on their respective escort strength and escort operation mode, jointly analyzed the current escort situation in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast and put forward positive proposals of anti-piracy countermeasures for maintaining the safety of the ships passing through the sea area.

It is learnt that the 12th Chinese naval escort taskforce arrived in the waters of the Gulf of Aden smoothly on the morning of July 17, local time, after nearly 6,000 nautical miles of continuous voyage for 15 days.

The taskforce is scheduled to arrive in the predetermined waters of the Gulf of Aden and meet with the 11th Chinese naval escort taskforce on the morning of July 18, local time. Afterwards, the 11th Chinese naval escort taskforce will hand over the escort mission to the 12th Chinese naval escort taskforce. The two taskforces will sail separately after carrying out joint escort mission.