The Chinese Navy’s 48th Naval Escort Group has taken over responsibility for maintaining the Chinese naval presence in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to a report published by by The Maritime Executive news wibsite
The report expected the navy mission to be at the commencement of what is likely to be a 10-month tour of duty based at the Project 141 Overseas Support Base at Doraleh in Djibouti, adding that the 48th set off from Qingdao, in China's Shandong Province, home of the North Sea Fleet, on October 11.
The new flotilla, according to the report, consists of Type 052DL guided-missile destroyer Tangshan (F122), Type 054A guided-missile frigate Daqing (F576) and Type 903A replenishment ship Taihu (K889).
The first duty of the new presence was to escort the Panamanian-registered bulker Nasco Gem (IMO 9404986) through the Gulf of Aden and into Djibouti; the vessel had set out from the Chinese port of Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, with a stop in Singapore.
The Nasco Gem is owned by YDM Shipping Co and managed by NASCO, both based in China.
The report noted that “Chinese military website falsely identified the ship escorted as the Nasco Diamond (IMO 9467861), a bulk carrier who set out for the last time from Kolonodale in Indonesia, heading for Lianyungang, but which sank en route off Japan's southern islands on November 10, 2010”.
The Nasco Diamond's master had complained before departure that his 55,000 tonne cargo of nickel ore was too wet, and liquefaction was subsequently found to be the cause of the ship's foundering.
The Nasco Gem which the PLAN escorted last week was a sister ship of the Nasco Diamond, and remains under the same management.
The relieved PLAN's 47th Naval Escort Group, consisting of the Type 052D guided-missile destroyer Baotou (F113), Type 054A guided-missile frigate Honghe (F523) and the Type 903A replenishment ship Gaoyouhu (K904), is now on its way back to the East Sea Fleet main base at Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, with no doubt some port calls on the way.