Defence Japan Coast Guard to commission its largest vessel in 2029

The Japan Coast Guard plans to construct its largest-ever multipurpose patrol vessel, approximately the size of two soccer fields, in fiscal 2025. This behemoth, with a total construction cost of around 68 billion JPY (USD 471 million), is intended to bolster disaster preparedness and emergency response capabilities. The Japan Coast Guard's budget request for the next fiscal year includes 3.43 billion JPY towards this project. Designed to transport supplies and safeguard Japanese citizens during emergencies like a Nankai Trough megaquake or a military contingency in Taiwan, the vessel will also play a crucial role in combating illegal fishing activities by foreign vessels.

The patrol ship will be about 200 meters long and weigh 30,000 tons. It will have a capacity that is three times the 6,500-ton size of the Japan Coast Guard's current largest patrol vessel. In emergencies, the new ship will be able to transport 1,000 people and carry up to three helicopters and many rubber dinghies. It is scheduled to be commissioned in fiscal 2029. The location of its deployment has not yet been decided. The Japan Coast Guard said the new ship will be a "maritime base" for security purposes, but it will not be used in territorial waters around Japan's Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China, and it will not be equipped with autocannons.

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2029 might have been too late to protect the Senkakus, anyhow.