The Chinese Navy's three-ship fleet awaiting sail to waters off Somalia has finished its preparations for the overseas deployment, the fleet commander said Thursday.

Photo taken on Dec. 25, 2008 shows the Chinese Navy's supply ship Weishanhu in Sanya, capital of South China's Hainan Province. The Chinese Navy's three-ship fleet awaiting sail to waters off Somalia has finished its preparations for the overseas deployment, the fleet commander said Thursday.[Xinhua Photo]

The commander, Rear-Admiral Du Jingcheng told Xinhua aboard the Navy's DDG-171 Haikou destroyer that all crew members of the fleet had full confidence in their ability to fulfill the escorting mission.

The Haikou together with another destroyer, DDG-169 Wuhan, and supply ship Weishanhu from the South Sea Fleet will set sail from a port in China's southmost city of Sanya on Hainan Island Friday. The fleet will join in the multi-national patrolling of the Gulf of Aden and waters off the coast of Somalia.

The fleet will carry about 800 crew members, including 70 soldiers form the Navy's special force, and is equipped with ship-borne missiles, cannons and light weapons.

"The fleet's warships will primarily safeguard vessels passing through the waters. The fleet's helicopters will be responsible for the fleet's own safety, material delivery as well as rescue tasks," the commander said.

"The fleet will protect and escort Chinese ships carrying strategic cargos, such as crude oil," he added.

The commander, who serves as chief of staff of the Navy's SouthSea Fleet, said that the upcoming mission may take a long time and may involve unforeseeable challenges.

"We have made special preparations to deal with pirates, even though these waters are not familiar to us," he said.

The crewmen have made physical and psychological preparations for the mission by intensified training in shooting, maritime tactics and diving, said Lieutenant Commander Xie Zengling, chief of the special force unit, adding that one special force soldier could handle several enemies with bare hands.

Soldiers of Chinese navy special force carry out an anti pirate drill on the deck of DDG-171 Haikou destroyer in Sanya, capital of South China's Hainan Province, on Dec. 25, 2008.[Xinhua Photo]

"We are expected to encounter fire conflicts with pirates in these waters," said the fleet's commander, "but our primary target is not striking them but dispelling them."

"If the pirates make direct threats to the warships or the vessels we escort, the fleet will take counter measures," he said.