The Japan Coast Guard on Thursday unveiled the first of three high-speed patrol boats the government ordered built after Japanese warships and coast guard vessels failed to stop two intruding North Korean spy ships during a sea chase in 1999.
On display to the press in Tokyo Bay off Haneda is the Tsurugi, a 220-ton, 50-meter-long vessel equipped with three engines and capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots, or some 74 kph.
The boat is the first of three similar vessels ordered by the coast guard at 2.3 billion yen each.
In addition to a 20mm machine gun, the Tsurugi is equipped with an infrared search-and-surveillance sensor that will allow its crew to identify boats when operating at night. The boat will be deployed next month in Niigata Prefecture, while the other two boats will also be deployed on the Sea of Japan coast, one in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, and the other in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture.
The government decided to build the three patrol boats after officials found that Japanese warships and coast guard vessels are not fast enough to intercept high-speed vessels.
The North Korean spy boats came close to the Sea of Japan coast in March 1999 and fled back to North Korea following an unsuccessful chase by Maritime Self-Defense Force and coast guard vessels.