MSDF sub collides with tanker

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MSDF sub collides with tanker

The Maritime Self-Defense Force training submarine Asashio, while practicing surfacing, collided with the Panamanian-registered 4,000-ton chemical tanker Spring Auster (17 crew on board) in the Pacific 50 kilometers off Miyazaki Prefecture at around 9:50 a.m. November 21. No injury was reported.

The sub began to submerge immediately after its crew became aware of the tanker, but the sub's vertical rudder struck the civilian ship's bottom, leaving two holes and a nine-meter long scratch.

The submarine apparently failed to confirm the safety of the move before surfacing, an action that could have caused a major disaster. There is heavy traffic of ocean liners and fishing boats in the area.

Commenting on this accident, a former Japanese tanker crew member said, "The MSDF sub was carrying out its surfacing exercise in a sea lane heavily trafficked by passenger ships and fishing boats. I wonder if they think it is 'war time' for them. They might be using civilian ships as hypothetical targets, just like military aircraft conduct exercises using civilian aircraft as targets. The SDF must make public what really happened. Surfacing exercises in sea areas not designated as training zones must be stopped."

The Asashio accident resembles an accident in which a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine burst to the surface and collided with the Japanese fishing training ship Ehime Maru off Hawaii in 2001, killing 9 students of Uwajima Fisheries High School in Ehime Prefecture.

As the SDF is rushing to acquire the capability to wage wars in accord with U.S. global military operations, the Asashio accident needs to be investigated thoroughly.

Though it is designated as a training ship, the 2,900-ton Asashio is the newest MSDF submarine that can cruise submerged for long duration and is equipped with state-of-the-art weapons systems.
- Akahata, November 22 & 23, 2006