Kerala - Kochi   

Japanese ships leave after visit

FRIENDLY RELATIONS:Japanese Destroyer Yuugiri leaving Kochi harbour on Monday.

Kochi: Two destroyers of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF), the 4,650-tonne Murasame and 3,500-tonne Yuugiri, left the port here after a two-day visit on Monday.

The ships, on their way back to Japan from the piracy-infested Gulf of Aden after being replaced by destroyers JDS Makinami and JDS Setogiri last week, had their last port call at Salalah in Oman.

From Kochi, they will sail to Singapore before heading home. During their stay here, JMSDF personnel interacted with Indian Navy and Coast Guard personnel and exchanged ships visits with Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. Captain Shinomura, Commander Escort Division 1 of JMSDF, who was embarked on JDS Murasame called on Rear Admiral SY Srikhande, Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, during the Japanese ships' stay in Kochi.

The officers and men of JMSDF also made a friendly visit to Coast Guard District Headquarters No.4 at Fort Kochi and attended a lunch hosted by Indian Coast Guard District Commander Deputy Inspector General B.K. Loshali. 

Since early 2009, Japan has been regularly deploying its warships in the Gulf of Aden to escort commercial ships along the Gulf of Aden. Annually, about 2,000 merchant ships with ties to Japan, Japan-flagged or operated by Japanese firms pass through the busy shipping channel.

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