Asia-Pacific
Chinese Navy: 48th escort task force returns to Qingdao after 378 days, with 423 ships escorted and 150,000 nautical miles sailed
The PLA Navy’s 48th escort task force, made up of the destroyer Tangshan, the frigate Daqing and the supply ship Taihu, returned to Qingdao on October 23 after 378 days in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia.
After a mission of 378 days, the 48th escort task force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy returned on Friday, October 23 to a military port in Qingdao, in Shandong province. The force consisted of the guided-missile destroyer Tangshan (122), the frigate Daqing (576) and the comprehensive supply ship Taihu (889).
The tally, which the official site of the Chinese armed forces published, speaks of more than 150,000 nautical miles and 423 Chinese and foreign ships safely escorted in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia. Beijing presents the mission as a contribution to the security of international sea lanes and regional stability.
The three ships had sailed from Qingdao on October 11, 2025, to relieve the 47th task force, carrying two helicopters and dozens of special forces personnel. At times in the mission the ships operated separately: on December 25, 2025 Tangshan and Taihu called at Mombasa, Kenya, for a four-day technical stop while Daqing continued escorts alone in the Gulf of Aden.
Beyond escorting ships, the force took part in international exercises and events. It joined the naval exercise “Will for Peace 2026” in South Africa and the China-Pakistan exercise “Sea Guardian IV” in Pakistan. In late June Tangshan took part in the parade for the 50th anniversary of Seychelles’ independence, the first Chinese participation in a parade of that country, as the Chinese defence ministry spokesman, Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, had announced.
The way home
After completing its duties in the Gulf of Aden, the force headed home with friendly port calls. It stayed five days in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and left on September 21; on September 24 it reached Yangon, Myanmar. A technical stop followed at Singapore’s Changi port from October 2 to 4 and, on October 8, a five-day visit to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, where the Eastern Fleet of the Malaysian navy welcomed it. Technical stops were also made in Oman and other countries.
China’s escort task forces rotate in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia, each new force taking over from the previous one, as the 48th did with the 47th in October 2025. Beyond the Indian Ocean, the Chinese navy also appears regularly in the Pacific, as the repeated deployments of the aircraft carrier Liaoning show.