The Japan Coast Guard said Tuesday it plans to make a budget request for funds to construct what would be its largest multipurpose patrol vessel to respond to disasters and evacuate remote island residents in the event of emergencies, according to KYODO NEWS.
It will seek 3.43 billion yen ($23.7 million) in the fiscal 2025 budget as part of the cost of constructing the 200-meter-long vessel at a time when it is strengthening surveillance near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, claimed by China.
The request will push up the total funds it is seeking in the budget to a record-high 293.5 billion yen, up 12 percent from the initial fiscal 2024 budget.
At around 30,000 tons, the new vessel, due to be put into commission in fiscal 2029, would far eclipse the coast guard's currently largest ship of around 6,500 tons.
Its total construction cost will reach around 68 billion yen, it said.
The vessel, which will also be used to dispatch police officers, firefighters and Self-Defense Forces personnel during natural disasters, will have the capacity to board around 1,000 people.
The fiscal 2025 budget request also includes 4.16 billion yen to procure two large unmanned SeaGuardian aircraft and 40 million yen for international efforts to thwart drug-related crimes, it said.
Chinese vessels have repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters around the uninhabited Senkaku islets that Beijing calls Diaoyu, prompting the coast guard to enhance surveillance.