Japanese MSDF Chief To Be Dismissed Over Ship Collision

Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba has decided to dismiss Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) Chief of Staff Eiji Yoshikawa over failure to report a ship collision in time on Tuesday, Japanese media reported Friday. A MSDF destroyer equipped with the high-tech Aegis defense system collided with a fishing boat early Tuesday morning in waters off the coast of Chiba Prefecture, leading to the capsizing of the boat and missing of two crew members on it.JMSDF Atago DDG-177It took more than 90 minutes for Ishiba to be notified of the accident. The slowness of the defense system's emergency communication has put the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces under fire. Opposition parties have called for the resignation of Ishiba. The Atago is the MSDF's latest-model Aegis destroyer which went into commission in March 2007. Its failure to detect a small ship nearby also prompted Japanese media to doubt the destroyer's capability in Japan's planned joint construction of an anti-ballistic missile shield with the United States.