Russia's Pacific Fleet warships to visit Vietnam on Friday
14:3718/06/2009 VLADIVOSTOK, June 18 (RIA Novosti) - A naval task force from Russia's Pacific Fleet will pay an official visit to Vietnam from June 19 to 23, a spokesman for the fleet said on Thursday.
The task force, led by the Admiral Panteleyev destroyer, is heading back to base in Vladivostok after an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. The Udaloy-class destroyer, accompanied by a salvage tugboat and two tankers, joined the international anti-piracy operations on April 27.
The spokesman said the warships were due to dock at the port of Da Nang. The commanding staff of the vessels will meet with the Russian consul general in Da Nang, as well as municipal authorities and high-ranking Vietnamese military officials.
"Following a solemn farewell ceremony on June 23 the warships will head for Vladivostok. They are expected at the home base of the Pacific Fleet in early July," the spokesman said.
During the tour of duty off the Somali coast, the Admiral Panteleyev escorted a total of 41 commercial vessels through the pirate-infested waters.
The destroyer in April seized a boat carrying 29 suspected pirates, believed to have been involved in the unsuccessful attack on a Russian-crewed oil tanker as it passed through the Gulf of Aden en route to Singapore.
The warship later prevented a pirate attack on a cargo vessel while escorting a convoy of six merchant ships through the Gulf of Aden.
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