中国海军发行亚丁湾护航10周年纪念封
For the 10th anniversary of the first escort mission by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the Gulf of Aden, the PLA Navy issued a series of 32 commemorative envelopes on Wednesday.
为纪念中国海军在亚丁湾首次执行护航任务10周年,海军周三发行一套32枚纪念封。
Stamped with a postmark on the day they were issued, on the front of the envelopes are photos showing scenes of the navy's escort missions, alongside special edition stamps. On the back of the envelopes, details of the escort missions are printed in both Chinese and English.
On December 26, 2008, the PLA Navy set off on its first ocean escort mission in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Over the decade that has followed, the navy has dispatched 31 escort formations on 1,198 missions involving 100 submarines, 67 ship-borne helicopters, and more than 26,000 sailors.
These missions escorted more than 6,600 ships, rescued more than 70 ships in danger, and captured three pirates.