SDF to extend antipiracy escort coverage off Somalia by 200 km

TOKYO, Sept. 9 Kyodo -
The chief of the Self-Defense Forces said Thursday that its antipiracy vessels
deployed off Somalia will extend their escort coverage by about 200 kilometers
from next month to encompass a roughly 1,100-km stretch in the Gulf of Aden.
The extension, which will also affect an area patrolled by the Maritime
Self-Defense Force's P-3C patrol aircraft, is aimed at dealing with an expected
increase in piracy cases following the end of the monsoon high-tide season
within this month.
''Pirates have been on a steady rise since last year'' in the area to be
covered by the extension, said the SDF chief of staff, Gen. Ryoichi Oriki, at a
news conference.
The MSDF has provided commercial ships with safe passage through the
pirate-infested gulf over a roughly 900-km stretch by having two destroyers at
their front and rear.
The change is likely to lead to a decrease in the total number of escorts
provided by the MSDF given that the two-destroyer formation for the missions
will remain the same, according to the SDF's Joint Staff.
The escort coverage is expected to be shortened to the original 900 km around
December, when the next monsoon season arrives in the region.
The MSDF has dispatched its destroyers for escort missions in the gulf since
March 2009. While they were able to escort only Japanese-related ships at
first, a new law has enabled them to protect those unrelated to Japan since it
took effect in July last year.
In July this year, the Democratic Party of Japan-led coalition government
decided to extend the missions by one year. More than 1,000 ships have so far
received MSDF escorts in the region.
==Kyodo