The Russian Pacific Fleet`s Admiral Panteleyev destroyer and Irkut tanker returned on Wednesday to their base in Vladivostok after an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden.

The Udaloy-class destroyer, accompanied by a salvage tugboat and two tankers, joined the anti-piracy campaign on April 27, 2009, and patrolled the pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast until June 7.

During the tour of duty, the Admiral Panteleyev escorted a total of 41 commercial vessels along the shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden.

The destroyer in April seized a boat carrying 29 suspected pirates, believed to have been involved in an unsuccessful attack on a Russian-crewed oil tanker en route to Singapore.

The warship later prevented a pirate attack on a cargo vessel while escorting a convoy of six merchant ships.

On the way back home, the Panteleyev and the Irkut visited the Vietnamese port of Da Nang on June 19-23, while the salvage tug SB-37 and the Izhora tanker sailed directly to Vladivostok.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Fleet sent on June 29 a new task force, comprising the Admiral Tributs destroyer, the Boris Butoma tanker and the MB-99 salvage tug, to join the international anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast.
sections: Society