The 39th fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy sets out to conduct an escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia, at a port in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 26, 2021. The fleet is composed of the guided-missile destroyer Urumqi, the missile frigate Yantai, and the supply ship Taihu, with dozens of special-operations soldiers and two helicopters on board. The PLA Navy began conducting escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia in December 2008. (Photo by Liu Zaiyao/Xinhua)