"Haikou" vessel of Chinese navy (front) escorts merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, on Feb. 17, 2009. The Chinese naval fleet completed its 21th batch of escort missions against pirates on Wednesday.

A Chinese naval fleet completed its twenty-first mission of escorting merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, the largest operation of its kind after the fleet's arrival in the waters.

Ten Chinese merchant ships were convoyed, while three foreign ones, including "Hermione" from Germany, "Viking Crux" from Singapore and "Princess Nataly" from Cyprus, also asked for protection and were escorted by the Chinese fleet.