MSDF vessels withdraw from Indian Ocean

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

MSDF vessels withdraw from Indian Ocean

Defense Minister Kitazawa Toshimi on January 15 ordered Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels on a refueling mission to withdraw from the Indian Ocean in accordance with the expiration of the new Special Measures Law on Terrorism.

With this, deployment of the MSDF in the Indian Ocean, which lasted for about eight years, came to end.

The MSDF vessels provided about 510,000 kiloliters of fuel to foreign worships of 12 countries, including the U.S., Britain, and Pakistan, 939 times in total. Money used for this, water, helicopter fuel, and other MSDF activities amounted to more than 70 billion yen. The MSDF provided the fuel for free, but it was funded by taxpayer money.

Like the previous government, the Hatoyama government says it will continue dispatching an SDF unit to waters off Somalia in East Africa to take part in anti-piracy operations.

- Akahata, January 16, 2010