Jan 16, 2008
(Kyodo) _ Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's Cabinet endorsed an implementation plan Wednesday to resume the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean for U.S.-led antiterrorism operations, paving the way for two MSDF vessels to leave Japan next week.
According to the plan, the vessels will be a supply ship and a destroyer with up to 500 crew members, and the first dispatch will cover the period up to June 30. Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to issue an order soon for the MSDF dispatch.
Ishiba said earlier that the MSDF will send the 13,500-ton fleet support ship Oumi and the 4,550-ton destroyer Murasame to refuel foreign vessels participating in the operations to crack down on boats allegedly linked to terrorism.
Japan suspended the refueling mission in November as Fukuda's government failed to win parliamentary approval to extend a special authorization law due to resistance by the opposition camp.
The ruling coalition came up with a new law to resume refueling for foreign vessels engaged in interdiction activities for Afghanistan. The government won parliamentary approval for it on Friday. The law will be valid for one year.
Japan provided some 490,000 kiloliters of oil for vessels from 11 countries in the previous mission which began in November 2001.
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