MURMANSK, November 28. /TASS/. The festive ceremony of receiving the crew of the large antisubmarine warfare ship Vice-Admiral Kulakov after its long-distance voyage was held on Tuesday at the Northern Fleet’s main base in Severomorsk, the Fleet’s press office reported on Tuesday.
"Northern Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov congratulated the crew with its return to the home base and noted the importance of the tasks of ensuring the safety of shipping, which the Northern Sea sailors were performing in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea," the press office said.
As the Northern Fleet commander said, the crew will undergo no less intensive combat training and new long-distance voyages in operationally important parts of the World Ocean in the new training year.
The Vice-Admiral Kulakov left the home base on June 29 jointly with the missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov to take part in the naval parade off Kronshtadt. In early August, the warship made a passage from the Baltic to the North Sea as part of a naval group, after which it continued its voyage in the southern direction.
The warship has been in distant waters for over three months. From late August to mid-October, the crew of the Vice-Admiral Kulakov operated in the southern part of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The warship ensured Russia’s permanent naval presence in the region and safe shipping. In the second half of October, the sailors performed missions in the Mediterranean Sea.
During its voyage in distant waters, the warship covered over 23,000 nautical miles and made four business calls at foreign ports: Limassol (Cyprus), Salalu (Oman), Alexandria (Egypt) and Lisbon (Portugal).