KALININGRAD. Sept 5 (Interfax-AVN) - The Baltic Fleet frigate Yaroslav Mudry goes on mission to support safe shipping of civilian vessels in pirate-infested waters, the fleet press service reports.
The Yaroslav Mudry and the tanker Kola passed through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait on Friday and reached the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea. The frigate is carrying a marine unit trained to fight sea pirates.
The mission of the frigate and the tanker will last for several months. The Kola will provide the frigate with fuel, water and food.
This is the first voyage of the Yaroslav Mudry to the Horn of Africa area. It has previously been on mission only to the Mediterranean.
The Yaroslav Mudry departed from the Baltic Fleet main base on August 9. Since then the ship has covered a distance of over 5,000 nautical miles and visited the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on the Mediterranean coast of Africa and the Maltese port of Valetta.
In an earlier period the Baltic Fleet had sent the frigate Neustrashimy on three anti-piracy missions off the Horn of Africa, in 2008, 2010 and 2013. The Neustrashimy was the first ship of the Russian Navy to keep Russian and foreign vessels safe off the Somali coastline.