Russian warship arrives in South Africa for joint naval drills

A Russian warship arrived at South Africa's Cape Town primary naval base to join Chinese and Iranian navy vessels in military exercises set to run from January 9th to 16th. 

A Chinese destroyer and replenishment ship, and an Iranian forward base ship sailed into South African waters earlier this week ahead of the week-long maneuvers due to kick off with an opening ceremony Saturday.

The main purpose of the mission was to exchange best practices and improve joint operational capabilities of navies, which contributes to the safety of shipping routes and overall regional maritime stability.