Japan Press Weekly

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2014 January 15 - 21 [SDF]

Peace groups protest against SDF warship’s fatal collision with fishing boat

In protest against the collision between the Maritime Self-Defense Force warship, Osumi, and a fishing boat off Hiroshima Prefecture, local peace activists and Japanese Communist Party assemblymembers on January 17 submitted to the MSDF Kure District headquarters (Kure City, Hiroshima) a petition demanding that a probe into the incident and preventive measures be launched.

The MSDF transport vessel assigned to the Kure Naval base collided with the fishing boat two days ago, killing two of the four men aboard the fishing boat. The remaining two were not injured.

The petition urged Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, Defense Minister Onodera Itsunori, and the MSDF Kure District head to determine the cause of the incident in a thorough and prompt manner and take effective measures to prevent recurrence of such fatal accidents involving civilians.

MSDF personnel received the petitioners on the street in front of the base gate.

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JCP member of the House of Councilors Nihi Sohei on January 15 and 16 visited Hiroshima soon after the incident to carry out on-site inspections. During his inspections, Nihi met with the bereaved families and requested the regional maritime safety headquarters to fully investigate into the cause of the incident.