Mothers of sailors from the Navy’s First Fleet make kimchi to be shipped to the Cheonghae anti-piracy unit operating in waters off Somalia, in Donghae, Gangwon Province, Wednesday. The third contingent of the unit will head for the piracy-ridden littorals today for rotation of troops there.
/ Courtesy of Navy |
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Kimchi will be sent to a South Korean anti-piracy contingent operating off the Somali coast, the Navy said Wednesday, as part of efforts to boost the morale of the Cheonghae naval unit suffering from homesickness, it said in a news release.
Sailors and family members of the Navy's first fleet made 900 kilograms of kimchi for Cheonghae members and shipped them on a 4,500-ton destroyer heading Thursday for the Somali waters to replace a ship deployed in July, it said.
``According to sailors who returned from the anti-piracy mission, soldiers there want to eat kimchi more than any other Korean food. The unit previously bought kimchi from a local importer in the region but complained of its low quality and price that was seven times more expensive than normal,'' a Navy official said.
``Against that backdrop, sailors and their family members here decided to make kimchi with cabbages and vegetables cultivated in their kitchen gardens.''
Kimchi, South Korea's traditional side dish is eaten at almost every meal in Korea. It is made from various fermented vegetables.
Since deployed in March, the 300-strong Cheonghae unit has successfully escorted more than 300 domestic and foreign cargo ships through the troubled waters and thwarted nine attempts by pirates to hijack ships.
The contingent consists of a 4,500-ton KDX-II destroyer, a Lynx anti-submarine helicopter and a group of 30 UDT/SEAL forces.
The KDX-II destroyer is equipped with an Mk 45 127mm gun, harpoon ship-to-surface missiles, RAM Mk 31 ship-to-air guided missiles, a 30mm Goalkeeper system for engaging sea-skimming anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. Built in 2003, the 150-meter-long, 17-meter-wide ship has a top speed of 29 knots.
Besides the escorting mission, the unit is responsible for monitoring, inspecting, stopping and seizing pirates' vessels in cooperation with the multinational Combined Forces Maritime Component Command in Bahrain.
Located along the route of a crude-oil pipeline connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and racked by civil war, Somalia's coastline has become infamous for piracy.
Each year, about 20,000 ships sail throughout the Gulf of Aden headed for the Suez Canal, an important shipping route for international trade that links Europe to the Middle East and Asia.
The International Maritime Organization counted 111 attacks in 2008 in waters near Somalia, the most notorious location for piracy.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
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