MSDF supply ship Tokiwa arrives home

11/24/2007
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

The refueling vessel Tokiwa, a key player in Japan's support of the U.S.-led war against terrorism, returned to Tokyo on Friday to cheers and vows to send the ship back to the war zone.

Photo: MSDF crew members of the refueling vessel Tokiwa line up on Harumi pier in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on Friday.

The Maritime Self-Defense Force's ship was forced to suspend its refueling mission in the Indian Ocean on Nov. 1, when the anti-terror special measures law for the operation expired.

About 140 MSDF crew members were welcomed at Harumi pier in Tokyo's Chuo Ward not only by family members but also by Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other senior government officials.

In a ceremony to celebrate the crew's return, Machimura stressed the government's determination to resume the refueling operations aimed at helping to fight terrorists in Afghanistan.

"We want to pass a (new) bill in the current Diet session by all means," he said.

Ishiba said the government plans to pass the bill as soon as possible.

"In order to resume the (refueling) operations, we plan to heighten the transparency of the activities," Ishiba said.

Suspicions were raised during the mission that some of the MSDF fuel had been diverted for operations in the war in Iraq. Suspicions also arose that a cover-up was conducted to conceal that violation of the special measures law.

The ceremony was attended by about 50 lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, and even opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), which opposes the new bill.

Capt. Yoshitaka Ojima, the MSDF officer in charge of Tokiwa operations, told reporters: "Members of other countries' navies who have worked with us are engaged in their activities now. Honestly speaking, we feel as if they were pulling our hair from behind (so that we would not return to Japan)."

MSDF vessels, including the Tokiwa, were dispatched to the Indian Ocean in December 2001. Those ships had supplied a total of about 490,000 kiloliters of fuel to the ships of 11 countries, including the United States, in 794 installments free of charge.

The Tokiwa was the last ship to return home from the mission. The destroyer Kirisame arrived at Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Thursday.(IHT/Asahi: November 24,2007)