Third Chinese naval escort taskforce holds press conference

On August 12, Captain Li Xinfeng spokesman of the third Chinese naval escort taskforce held a press conference on the current escorting situation encountered by the taskforce.

According to Li Xinfeng, at present the piracy in the sea area of the Gulf of Aden is still rampant. In a short span of 10 days from July 31 to August 9, pirate attacks and suspected pirate attempts to attack commercial ships totaled 13. The incidents occurred most frequently between 7-8 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. At other times, the pirates may also launch attacks as long as there is an opportunity.

When a reporter asked about the new features of pirate attacks on ships, Li Xinfeng said that the methods that the pirates used in attacking the merchant ships were more crafty and weird. They used to launch sporadic attacks in the past and now they attack in gangs. Their boats were disguised as fishing vessels or fishing yachts, and they adopted the wolf group tactics of coordination in groups and besieging from different directions. Some yachts pretended to act, so as to confuse the rescue warships and cover their accomplices to board the ships by force.

When asked about the challenges that the third Chinese naval escort taskforce is likely to face, Li Xinfeng said, with the weakening of the monsoon climate of the Indian Ocean in August and September, the wind and waves in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somalia coast will bate gradually, which will objectively provide the pirates with convenient natural conditions and hence the piracy in Somalia may be more rampant.

In view of the new features of piracy, Li Xinfeng warned the passing ships to strengthen guard against piracy and try to join in or follow the escort taskforce. Should a mishap occur, the victim must promptly send a signal to warships of various countries to ask for help, and quickly change the sailing course and speed to take self-rescue measures and steer clear of pirate attacks as soon as possible.

In addition, the vessels should open the Automatic Identification System during the sailing and turn on the navigation light at night when following the escort taskforce, so as to receive timely assistance when in distress.

By Zhu Da

(Aug 14, PLA Daily)