Photos: Official Wechat account of PLA Navy

Six merchant ships have safely arrived in the west Gulf of Aden thanks to an escort from the 41st Fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, after a journey of over 1,100 kilometers that took dozens of hours.

Due to the security situation of the waters off Somalia, the escort fleet deployed special operations soldiers, radar, helicopters and other monitoring equipment for real-time threat detection.

During the mission, sailors on a merchant ship raised China’s national flag and a banner to thank the Chinese PLA Navy for the escort.

The 41st Chinese Naval Escort Task Force set out for the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somali from a military port in the city of Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang Province, on May 18.

The task force consists of the guided-missile destroyer Suzhou, the guided-missile frigate Nantong and the supply ship Chaohu, as well as two ship-borne helicopters and dozens of special operations soldiers. It is the first time that the Suzhou and Nantong performed an escort mission.

(Compiled by Chen Rui)