CHINA’S 11th group of navy escort ships in the past three years left Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao on Feb. 28, bound for the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia.

    It’s the first such mission by the North Sea Fleet since the country’s navy started escort missions in December 2008.

    Staffed with more than 800 people, the fleet includes a destroyer, frigate, supply ship and two helicopters.

    (Li Hao, Mi Jinguo)