Russian Relay in the Gulf of Aden
(B2)Admiral Vinogradov (572), an anti-submarine destroyer of the Russian Pacific Fleet, took over from the Neustrashimy (Intepid), of the Baltic Fleet, off Somalia, to escort commercial ships in the face of pirate attacks, Russian Navy spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo said on Sunday, according to information reported by Novosti.
The ships carried out an exchange of necessary information and "Admiral Vinogradov has already escorted a convoy of two Russian merchant ships", explained the serviceman. The escort vessel Neustrashimy will leave the Gulf of Aden in the second half of January. It escorted "13 convoys comprising a total of 51 ships" according to the Russian Navy spokesman.
The ship must also take part, with the nuclear missile cruiser, Piotr Veliki, the oil tankers Petchenga and Boris Boutoma and the salvage tug Fotii Krylov, in the Russian-Indian maneuvers "Indra 2009" which take place at the end of the month in Arabian Sea. The Russian Navy is very present in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and has been more generally very active in recent months on all the seas of the globe. A resurgence that contrasts with the relative discretion observed in recent years.
Justified by strategic needs (showing the presence of Russia, facing the United States, and other navies; thus demonstrating the Russian ability to intervene for certain allies, demonstrating equipment, etc.) and operational (resuming training sailors who had been abandoned), this presence is marked in several places. On the American side, the Navy thus held joint exercises with Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea, a group of warships crossed the Panama Canal (the first time since 1944) and Russian ships visited Nicaragua. In Europe, in the Mediterranean, a group of ships has just participated off the coast of Greece in naval air maneuvers. In Africa, the Piotr Veliki is preparing to enter the port of Cape Town (South Africa).
(NGV)
