the Antarctic analysis ship Shirase is seen on the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Kure base in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, in September 2020.
12:43 JST, May 12, 2026
With the Antarctic analysis ship Shirase set to be retired in 2034, the operation of its successor vessel will likely be dealt with by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), in accordance to a plan revealed by the federal government.
JAMSTEC will likely be taking on from the Maritime Self-Defense Force, which operates the Shirase. In addition to a scarcity of personnel, the MSDF’s duties are rising because of this of China and different surrounding nations increasing their maritime actions. This has made it tough to keep the present operational construction.
The Shirase shuttles between Japan and Antarctica, carrying researchers and provides. The MSDF has been supporting Antarctic analysis actions by working vessels and helicopters for greater than 60 years now, starting with the dispatch of the icebreaker Fuji in 1965.
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In current years, about 170 to 180 MSDF members have been entrusted every year with crusing Shirase.
At a gathering held on the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry on April 16, a Defense Ministry official defined that the areas that want surveillance are increasing and the Self-Defense Forces are understaffed as an entire, making it tough to safe sufficient personnel, the official stated.