BEIJING, Jan. 7 -- A Chinese naval fleet has arrived in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia. The three ships have conducted their first escort mission against pirates.

    Four Chinese merchant ships, including one from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, were escorted by the fleet close at hand.

    This time, the escort area starts from the eastern part of the Gulf of Aden, and ends at the east entrance of the Mandab Strait, 550 miles in total, or about 1020 kilometers. The escort will mainly protect the safety of Chinese ships and people who pass through the Gulf of Aden and the Somalia sea area, as well as the safety of UN ships that transport humanitarian materials, like the UN World Food Program.

    The fleet, two destroyers and one supply ship, left a naval base on Hainan island on Dec. 26, under authorization from both the United Nations Security Council and Somalia's transitional government, to primarily escort Chinese merchant ships.

    The Gulf of Aden is located between Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula. The waterway is part of the important Suez canal shipping route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean. It's also in the key passage between China and Europe, with over 1,000 Chinese merchant ships crossing the Gulf annually.

    The U.N. Security Council adopted four resolutions in 2008, calling on all countries and regions to help patrol the Gulf and waters off Somalia, where surging piracy has endangered international shipping.

    (Source: CCTV.com)