GULF OF ADEN, Sept. 27 -- The 35th and 36th Chinese naval escort taskforces held a mission-handover ceremony in the Gulf of Aden on September 23rd local time.

After the handover ceremony, the two escort taskforces started the joint escorting mission for the Hong Kong-registered heavy cargo ship Zhenhua 27. The 35th escort taskforce left the Gulf of Aden after completing the joint escort mission.

The 35th Chinese naval escort taskforce consisted of the guided-missile destroyer Taiyuan, the guided-missile frigate Jingzhou and the supply ship Chaohu. The three ships set sail from the port city of Zhoushan in east China’s Zhejiang Province on April 28 this year. The taskforce has so far provided accompanying escorts for 27 batches of 49 Chinese and foreign merchant ships, and carried out relay escorts for more than 100 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden.

The 36th escort taskforce, comprised of the guided-missile destroyer Guiyang, the guided-missile frigate Zaozhuang, the comprehensive supply ship Dongpinghu and two ship-borne helicopters, set sail from their homeport in Qingdao, a coastal city in east China’s Shandong Province on September 3. During its voyage heading for the mission area, the fleet had carried out a series of specific training based on the maritime safety situation and the characteristics of escort missions, in a bid to effectively beefing up its escorting capability.