MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The Vietnamese frigate Tran Hung Dao has made a business call at the port of Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, the press office of Russia’s Pacific Fleet reported on Wednesday.
"Today the frigate Tran Hung Dao of the Navy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has made a business call at Vladivostok. After the ship moored among Russian combat ships at the Pacific Fleet’s main base, a ceremony was held on the coast under the direction of Commander of the Pacific Fleet’s Primorye Flotilla of All-Arms Forces Rear Admiral Alexey Sysuyev to receive foreign sailors," the press office said in a statement.
During the moorage of the Vietnamese naval ship in Vladivostok, cultural events will be held for its sailors, in particular, tours of the city and a visit to the Pacific Fleet’s museum. The Vietnamese frigate’s business call will last until July 31, it specified.
The frigate Tran Hung Dao was built at the Zelenodolsk Shipyard in the Republic of Tatarstan in the Volga area under Project 11661E Gepard-3.9. The warship was floated out on April 27, 2016 and on October 27, 2017 it was delivered by the transport vessel Rolldock Star to the Vietnamese naval base Cam Ranh. This is the third out of four frigates built for the Vietnamese Navy.
Cooperation between Vietnamese, Russian navies
The navies of Vietnam and Russia have been cooperating for over 70 years. As Vietnamese government and military officials have stated on many occasions, Vietnam will always remember the unparalleled feat of Soviet sailors who rendered assistance in the struggle for the country’s independence. During Vietnam’s struggle against the French colonial rule in 1945-1954 and resistance to the American aggression in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Russian naval sailors provided access to Vietnamese ports for cargo vessels delivering necessary weapons, ammunition, food and medicines for the young republic.
In the current period, Russian Pacific Fleet ships traditionally keep paying friendly visits to Vietnam’s shores. The Pacific Fleet’s logistics support base located on the Cam Ranh peninsula was the Russian Navy’s largest overseas facility for 23 years. After the Cam Ranh logistics support facility fully accomplished its mission, Russia officially returned it to Vietnam in May 2002. Vietnam said that Cam Ranh would no longer be used as a foreign military facility and would become a commercial port.
For the first time after the withdrawal of the military contingent, Russian combat ships called at Cam Ranh in June 2014. The visit was paid by the Pacific Fleet’s naval group comprising the large anti-submarine warfare ship Marshal Shaposhnikov, the medium sea tanker Irkut and the rescue vessel Alatau.