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Northern Fleet vessels leave for anti-piracy mission

"Severomorsk" is the second warship the Northern Fleet sends to the Gulf of Aden in 2012. (Photo: Northern Fleet)

The Northern Fleet’s destroyer “Severomorsk” today left Severomorsk to take part in the international anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.

Location

The destroyer heads a vessel group consisting of the salvage tug “Altay” and the tanker “Dubna”. 

The mission, which is planned to take several months, will also include official visits and business call to foreign ports. Ahead of the departure from Severomorsk the vessel and its crew has been training in the Barents Sea. “Severomorsk” also participated in anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast in 2011, as BarentsObserver reported.

The Northern Fleet’s “Admiral Chabanenko” and “Admiral Levchenko” have earlier conducted this type of mission. According to the Northern Fleet’s press service, vessels from the Northern Fleet have escorted more than 40 international convoys and prevented the cargo vessel “Ocean Diamond” and “United Emblem” from being captured by pirates in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. 

The Russian Navy has maintained a presence off the Somali coast since October 2008, with warships operating on a rotation basis. Earlier in 2012 the Northern Fleet’s destroyer “Vice Admiral Kulakov” conducted a 159 days long mission to the area.