NHK


 

Japan Coast Guard personnel have put on a training session for officials from a group of Southeast Asian countries. The aim was to enhance their capabilities in tracking and monitoring suspicious vessels.

The session in the Java Sea involved a Coast Guard aircraft that was dispatched to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

The 10 officials who attended included representatives from the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency as well as organizations in the Philippines and Malaysia.

The Coast Guard members demonstrated how to use a radar to gauge the size and location of a ship. They also explained how to operate a camera that can automatically track objects.

Indonesia faces the Strait of Malacca, a key shipping lane. Takahashi Toru, deputy director general of the Japan Coast Guard, expressed hope that by cooperating with Southeast Asian nations, Japan can contribute to "protecting rule of law at sea, and ensure a free and open Indo Pacific."

Japan has a long history of supporting Indonesia's maritime capabilities. But Jakarta is now deepening its maritime ties with China, which is increasingly active in the South China Sea.