Cheonghae Unit

The Cheonghae Unit (청해부대; 淸海部隊), alternatively known as Somalia Sea Escort Task Group (Korean: 소말리아 해역 호송전대), is the naval unit 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.