MSDF vessel departs for Gulf of Aden on anti-piracy mission

A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) destroyer has left Japan for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, amid continued attacks on vessels in the region by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

The Sazanami will replace another MSDF destroyer, Akebono, which is currently on the mission. Sazanami left with its 206-member crew from its base in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture on Thursday. In the send-off ceremony, Rear Admiral Kawamura Shinichi of Japan’s Self-Defense Fleet, said unexpected incidents could occur in the waters but expressed his beliefs that they can deal with the situation appropriately and carry out their mission.

Sazanami is scheduled to replace the destroyer Akebono by about mid-March and start its roughly four months’ mission.