06.04.2003 14:05:00 
Russian Black Sea Fleet tanker sails for Indian Ocean

SEVASTOPOL. April 6 (Interfax) - The Russian Black Sea Fleet's 
tanker Shakhtyor left its base in Sevastopol on Sunday and sailed for 
the Indian Ocean, where joint Russian-Indian naval exercises will be 
held in May.  

"The tanker and a large landing ship will be the first to pass through 
the Bosporus and the Dardanelles," a spokesman for the Black Sea Fleet 
headquarters told Interfax on Sunday.  

Then the flagship of the Black Sera Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva, 
and the patrol boats Pytlivy and Smetlivy, will be clear of this zone.  

"By April 11, the entire squadron will have reached the Mediterranean 
Sea," he said.  

Through the Suez Canal, the ships will enter the Indian Ocean and meet 
with ships of the Pacific Fleet off the Socotra Island.  

Earlier on Sunday, the large anti-submarine ships Marshal Shaposhnikov 
and Admiral Panteleyev, and the tanker Vladimir Kolechitsky of the 
Russian Pacific Fleet left their base in Vladivostok and sailed for 
the Indian Ocean to participate in Russian-Indian naval maneuvers.  

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Source: Interfax ...
www.interfax.ru/show_one_news.html?lang=EN&tz=0&tz_format=MSK&id_news=5630228


Cheers, Steve..

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