Four warships carrying about 1,000 sailors departed from CFB Esquimalt amid a ceremony Sunday morning to join war games and anti-piracy missions in the far and Middle East.

Several hundred family and friends of the sailors waved good-bye to the ships as they sailed from Esquimalt Harbour near Victoria.

"It's difficult to say good-bye but we've been planning this for over a year -- we're excited about getting on with the job," said navy spokesman Lt-Com. Mark MacIntyre.

For six months, the frigate HMCS Calgary and the supply ship HMCS Protecteur will be joining Combined Task Force 150, a group of about ten ships that patrol the waters around the Persian Gulf, the Horn of Africa, and through the Red Sea, said MacIntyre.

"The area is the centre of gravity for a lot of the shipping that the world has," said Lt-Com. Mark MacIntyre. "When you think of what we put on our dinner plate to what we put in our cars, it's an important marine environment."

"Their goal is to contribute to regional stability and security," he said. "They monitor shipping so that there are no terrorist activities being conducted at sea, and so that the sea isn't used to support terrorism ashore."

The task force targets human smuggling, which is a problem around the Gulf of Aden, and also piracy, which is rampant off the coast of Somalia, said MacIntyre.

The Calgary and the Protecteur will head to the Panama Canal and then join the HMCS Iroquois in the Atlantic Ocean. When the three ships meet Combined Task Force 150, Canadian Commodore Bob Davidson will assume command of the task force.

The frigates HMCS Ottawa and HMCS Regina will head west, where they will participate in RIMPAC, the world's largest international war games.

Calgary's Mayor Dave Bronconnier was present at the ceremony to bid farewell to the city's namesake vessel.