Chinese navy flotilla returns after record 378 days at sea

China’s 48th naval escort task force returned to a military port in Qingdao on Oct. 23 after 378 days away, the longest deployment in the history of the Chinese navy’s anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia, China’s Ministry of National Defense said.

The task force, made up of the guided-missile destroyer Tangshan (Hull 122), the guided-missile frigate Daqing (Hull 576) and the supply ship Taihu (Hull 889), sailed more than 150,000 nautical miles (about 278,000 km) during the mission and escorted 423 Chinese and foreign vessels, according to the ministry.

The three ships left Qingdao on Oct. 11, 2025, to take over from the 47th task force, carrying two helicopters and dozens of special operations personnel, Xinhua reported at the time. Before departure, the crews trained on weapons use, convoy escort procedures and replenishment at sea.

The deployment extends a run of successively longer missions. The 46th escort task force spent 339 days on deployment and the 47th spent 368, China Defense Blog noted, putting the 48th task force’s 378 days at the top of a steady climb in time on station across three consecutive rotations.

“Incremental progress, repeated often enough that one day it no longer looks incremental at all,” China Defense Blog wrote.

Beyond escort duty, the task force took part in the “Will for Peace 2026” joint maritime exercise in South Africa and the China-Pakistan “Sea Guardian IV” naval exercise in Pakistan. It joined a parade marking the 50th anniversary of Seychelles’ independence, paid visits to Bangladesh, Myanmar and Malaysia, and made technical stops in Oman, Kenya, Singapore and other countries, the ministry said.

China began sending warships to the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia in December 2008, after a surge in piracy attacks on commercial shipping in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, which links the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Each task force typically pairs combat ships with a supply vessel and an embarked special operations team, and hands over the mission to the next rotation on station.