Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun
To beef up security around the Senkaku Islands, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) will create a 600-member unit exclusively engaged in front-line missions in waters around the islands, where spotting Chinese vessels has become a daily operation, according to sources.
The JCG also plans to newly deploy 12 patrol ships in the area around the islands in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture.
Improved JCG functions are considered necessary to better handle possible intrusions by Chinese vessels into Japan’s territorial waters over a prolonged period.
Senkaku Islands
The JCG plans to establish improved systems with increased staff and equipment in three years, mainly for the Ishigaki branch of the JCG’s 11th regional headquarters, which oversees waters around Okinawa Prefecture, the sources said.
Since the Japanese government nationalised Uotsurijima and two other islets of the Senkaku Islands in September, Chinese surveillance ships have repeatedly entered waters near the islands–almost every day except under bad weather conditions. Intrusions into Japan’s territorial waters took place on 24 days in total.
Although 10 or more Chinese vessels were spotted in each such incident shortly after the nationalisation of islands, the number has recently decreased to about five.
But four Chinese vessels stayed in Japan’s territorial waters for about 13 hours from around noon on January 7 through early next morning.
To respond to these incidents, 1,000-ton-class or larger patrol ships are considered the most suitable vessels. But the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha currently has only seven such vessels, including three for the Ishigaki Coast Guard Office.
The JCG has dispatched patrol ships from other parts of the nation to the 11th regional headquarters to help its security operations. But this has caused problems such as drills at sea being cut short. A senior JCG official said, “If the situation remains as it is, it may cause serious problems even in marine rescue operations across the nation.”
The JCG therefore decided to significantly expand its functions to guard territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands and add 12 more vessels.
It already has started building four 1,000-ton-class patrol vessels with reserve funds for this fiscal year. Costs for the construction of six more ships of the same type are included in a supplementary budget approved by the Cabinet on January 15. The JCG also plans to deploy two more ships, called the Patrol Vessel Large with Helicopter (PLH), by means such as refurbishing vessels currently in service.
About 40 crew members are said to be necessary for each 1,000-ton-class patrol ship. The JCG intends to request an increase of 500 members from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2015 when 10 new vessels are to be completed. Combined with crew members for PLH vessels, the size of the new unit is expected to be about 600, according to the sources.
To increase the vessels’ operational efficiency, the JCG plans to introduce a rotational system for crew members.
The JCG plans to make Ishigaki Port, the base nearest to the Senkaku Islands, capable of anchoring about five large patrol vessels. Only two such vessels can be anchored there at present, the sources said. It has started coordination with the Ishigaki city government and other entities through the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.
The JCG aims to complete the creation of a new unit by the end of fiscal 2015, the sources said.
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