The missile frigate "Changzhou" of the 12th Chinese naval escort taskforce successfully expelled three suspected pirate boats from the escorted merchant ships on the night of October 23, 2012, local time.
On the very night, the "Changzhou" ship was escorting 5 Chinese and foreign merchant ships, when the radar observer reported at 21:25 that three suspected boats, which were 7.2 nautical miles away in the left front of the "Changzhou", suddenly changed their directions and were sailing at a high speed to the front of the commercial fleet .
Captain Liang Yang of the "Changzhou" immediately ordered the frigate to advance at full speed towards the suspected boats. At 21:28, Zha Weihua, a special operation member, turned on the strong searchlights.
At 21:45, the three boats approached the escorted ships from different directions to avoid the searchlights. Through night-vision devices, four to five people were spotted on each suspected boat.
When the suspected boats were half a nautical mile away, the "Changzhou" fired signal flares and detonation bombs to give warnings while the special operation members on board were in readiness for combat.
Under powerful force deterrence, the suspected pirate boats turned around and fled.
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