Defense & Security

Fire Occurs on MSDF Minesweeper; 1 Crew Member Missing

Courtesy of the Fukuoka Regional Coast Guard Headquarters
The Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweeper Ukushima on fire on Sunday.

Jiji Press

10:29 JST, November 11, 2024

Tokyo (Jiji Press)—A fire broke out on a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweeper Sunday, leaving one of its crew members missing.

Around 9:50 a.m., the Japan Coast Guard’s 7th regional headquarters in the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, was informed by staff personnel of the Ukushima minesweeper that a fire occurred in its engine room.

A 33-year-old petty officer 3rd class who was in the engine room has been missing, according to the MSDF and the coast guard. While the officer is believed to be trapped in the engine room, the fire extinguishing work has faced difficulties.

Sources including the MSDF said that the fire started near the ship’s engine around 9:43 a.m. The Ukushima was about 2 kilometers north of Oshima, an island in the Fukuoka city of Munakata, when it reported the fire to the coast guard.

“We will make all-out efforts to extinguish the fire, but the possibility of the ship going down cannot be ruled out,” Adm. Akira Saito, chief of staff of the MSDF, told a press conference Sunday night.

The fire was brought under control by Ukushima crew members as well as by the Toyoshima minesweeper, which was near the Ukushima, and a coast guard ship. But it restarted shortly before 3 p.m.

As the fire intensified, all Ukushima crew members except the missing officer fled to the Toyoshima.

As of 8:30 p.m., the fire spread almost across the Ukushima, which tilted. Several explosions occurred.

The missing crew member was on duty in the engine room.

Another crew member, aged under 30, who was with the missing personnel, was taken to hospital after inhaling smoke from the fire. This member is not in life-threatening condition.

The MSDF set up a panel to investigate the incident.

The Ukushima, which belongs to the MSDF’s base in the city of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, near Fukuoka, is 54 meters long and weighs 510 tons.

Boarded by about 40 crew members, the Ukushima left the base Sunday morning to take part in minesweeping training to be conducted in waters off Miyazaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan.