Thought this might be of interest to forum members:
Japan Times Article
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A three-day maritime drill on preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction kicked off Saturday off Oshima Island with personnel, aircraft and naval vessels from seven countries participating.
The exercises in the Pacific are part of the Proliferation Security Initiative, which features joint chases of "suspicious" boats at sea and ship inspections at the ports of Yokosuka and Yokohama, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japanese officials said.
Forty-one countries are taking part, including Australia, Britain, France, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, which all dispatched vessels and aircraft for the drill, with Singapore sending personnel.
The other countries, including those from Europe and the Middle East, sent observers.
On the first day, the vessels, including those from the Maritime Self-Defense Force, chased target boats and had inspectors board them in the Sea of Sagami, near the island.
After a New Zealand patrol plane flew over the USS 1st Lt. Harry Martin, a transport "suspected" of carrying WMD-related materials, about 20 MSDF "inspectors" approached it in a speedboat from the destroyer Ikazuchi so some of them could board the ship.
The British frigate Monmouth conducted a similar drill with the U.S. transport.
On Sunday, Japan and five other countries will each demonstrate the procedure for searching for suspicious materials hidden on a vessel berthed at a Yokosuka wharf.
A Ground Self-Defense Force unit is scheduled to conduct a drill Monday to deal with a mock chemical leak from a container at Yokohama port.
Japanese police, customs and coast guard officials, as well as those from other countries, will also try to detect and seize "chemical materials that can be used to make nerve gas" there.
The PSI, initiated by U.S. President George W. Bush, started in 2003 with the aim of preparing countries for detecting and checking suspicious aircraft and ships to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, missiles and their related materials.
Japan last hosted a PSI drill in 2004.
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Sargon
