Cheonghae Unit


The Cheonghae Anti-piracy Unit was established by the Republic of Korea Navy to protect civilian ships near the coast of Somalia under Combined Task Force 151. The naval task force is named after the historical 9th-century Korean military base Cheonghaejin.
Deployed from Jinhae Naval Base, the modern-day unit is responsible for safely escorting hundreds of commercial vessels and several rescues involving ships from The Bahamas, Denmark, North Korea and South Korea. In January 2011, commandos in the Cheonghae Unit successfully executed a highly publicized rescue of a South Korean tanker, freeing crew members held hostage by Somali pirates.

Operational history

2009

was the first ship to be deployed as part of the unit to Somali waters on March 13, 2009. On April 17, it deterred pirates from boarding the cargo vessel Puma, which was registered in Denmark. On May 4, the Munmu the Great responded to a distress call by the North Korean merchant vessel Dabaksol. A Westland Lynx military helicopter was launched to protect the Dabaksol until the pirates had fled. The North Korean sailors thanked the members of the unit before proceeding to India. A member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea stated, "This is the first time that the South Korean navy has rescued a North Korean cargo ship from a pirate’s attack. According to the international law of the sea, we should help all vessel regardless of their nationality."
ROKS Dae Joyeong was dispatched in July 2009 to relieve the Munmu the Great, and rescued four civilian vessels. In August, the Dae Joyeong raided a pirate vessel that had been pursuing the Bahamian container ship Notos Scan. In September, it freed the Cypriot commercial vessel Alexandria, along with five Yemeni crew members who were being held by pirates.
ROKS Yi Sun-shin was deployed in November 2009 to become the third ship of the unit. It defeated pirates twice while escorting 460 vessels during its tour of duty.

2010

On April 4, 2010, Somali pirates took over the South Korean supertanker Samho Dream along with its 24 crew members, including five Koreans and nineteen Filipinos. When the Yi Sun-shin pursued the hijacked vessel, the pirates threatened to kill the tanker crew.
ROKS Kang Gamchan relieved the Yi Sun-shin in May 2010, and transported injured crew members from a Bahamian drilling ship to a hospital later that month. In August, the Kang Gamchan also provided medical assistance to the crew of a ship registered in Hong Kong.
ROKS Wang Geon was deployed later that year to become the fifth ship of the unit. Among the 432 vessels it escorted was the Samho Dream, which had finally been released by pirates in November for a record ransom payment of $9.5 million.

2011 rescue operation

On January 21, 2011, the Cheonghae Unit rescued the crew of the Samho Jewelry, a chemical tanker held hostage by Somali pirates; 8 pirates were killed, and 5 were captured. The captain of the tanker was wounded during the operation, but the rest of the crew members were unhurt.

Unit rotation

RotationSizeList of shipsSailing offMission startMission endReturn to portNotes & events
1st300DDH-976 Munmu the Great13 March 200916 April 200919 August 200914 September 2009
2nd300DDH-977 Dae Jo-yeong16 July 200919 August 200923 December 200918 January 2010
3rd300DDH-975 Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin20 November 200923 December 200921 April 201020 May 2010
4th300DDH-979 Gang Gam-chan2 April 201021 April 201012 September 20104 October 2010
5th300DDH-978 Wang Geon9 July 201013 September 201028 December 201020 January 2011
6th300DDH-981 Choe Yeong8 December 201029 December 20105 May 201127 May 2011Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden
Libyan Civil War
7th300DDH-975 Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin5 April 20116 May 201112 September 20114 October 2011
8th300DDH-976 Munmu the Great12 August 201113 September 201114 January 201210 February 2012
9th300DDH-977 Dae Jo-yeong16 December 201115 January 201222 May 201215 June 2012
10th300DDH-978 Wang Geon23 April 201223 May 201211 September 201222 October 2012
11th300DDH-979 Gang Gam-chan20 August 201212 September 2012