Russian Warship Escorts Gulf of Aden Convoy

Russian Northern Fleet (NF) destroyer 'Vice Admiral Kulakov' escorts a second merchant convoy through the Gulf of Aden in her current anti-piracy mission

The convoy consisted of merchant ships flying flags of Malta and Liberia, the NF spokesman Capt 1 Rank Vadim Serga told ITAR-TASS.

"Crew of destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov replenished supplies delivered by tanker Ivan Bubnov on May 25. After that, a new convoy will be formed at an assigned point in the Red Sea to be escorted along the 'safety corridor' again", Serga said.

Destroyer Vice Admiral Kulakov left NF main base Severomorsk on Apr 6. Throughout the deployment, the ship has covered over 9,000 nautical miles.

In Apr 2012, the destroyer paid a formal call at the port of Souda (Greece) where Russian naval officers and marines had a unique opportunity to visit NATO's joint special operations training center. NF servicemen exchanged anti-piracy experience with foreign colleagues and held a number of practical drills.

The Russian warship began her anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden on May 14.