MOSCOW, May 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Admiral Panteleyev destroyer is escorting a convoy comprising five Russian and foreign merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden, a Russian Navy spokesman said on Wednesday.

"The Admiral Panteleyev destroyer continues to carry out its mission protecting commercial shipping around the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden. The warship is escorting a convoy comprising five vessels," the spokesman said.

The Admiral Panteleyev is an Udaloy-class missile destroyer armed with anti-ship missiles, 30-mm and 100-mm guns, and Ka-27 Helix helicopters.

The destroyer seized in April a boat carrying 29 suspected pirates, believed to have unsuccessfully attacked a Russian-crewed oil tanker that passed through the Gulf of Aden en route to Singapore.

Around 20 warships from the navies of at least a dozen countries are involved in anti-piracy operations off Somalia. According to the United Nations, Somali pirates carried out at least 120 attacks on ships in 2008, resulting in combined ransom payouts of around $150 million.