LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Farewell ceremonies are becoming more and more familiar to the Chinese navy these days. A fleet left the port Qingdao at the beginning of this week, ready to carry out its orders.

"Fleet 113 ready for duty." Ding Yiping, deputy commander of Chinese navy, said, "Set Sail!" Fleet Commander Yang Junfei said,

The fleet includes a destroyer, missile frigate, support ship, two helicopters and Special Forces to bear on the region. A total of 800 naval personnel are involved.

The United nations Security Council has been urging member countries to combat piracy along the Somali coast since the 1990s and the Chinese navy has been participating in the effort for the past four years and has remained an active partner ever since.

The People's Liberation Army Navy held the International Symposium on Counter-Piracy and Escort Operations in China's eastern city of Nanjing last week. Delegations from more than 20 states and organizations gathered there to get to know more about each other.

Phil Haslam, staff captain of European Naval Force, said, "I represent the European Naval Force, which is based in London, and the tactical coordination the ships have, day to day, in the Gulf of Aden. I see this symposium is taking that coordination to another level."

"The Chinese navy hopes to build up a platform for international cooperation that will allow naval forces of different countries to familiarize themselves with each other. I hope the platform well-serves our anti-piracy goals," Cao Weidong, senior researcher of Naval Research Institute, PLA said.

In addition to combating piracy, the fleet will be continuing to offer human aid to countries in need.

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