Japan may scale down naval mission for Afghanistan

Japan said Wednesday it may scale down a naval mission supporting US-led forces in Afghanistan to try to resolve a row with the opposition that helped bring down the previous government.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Japan would consider ending the refuelling of foreign supply ships in the Indian Ocean so that it does not indirectly support military activities outside of Afghanistan.

But Japan would continue to refuel non-supply ships in the Indian Ocean.

“If we can keep the operation that way, it would be one idea,” the top government spokesman said.

Under legislation passed after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, Japanese ships refuel and give other logistical support to coalition forces which overthrew Afghanistan’s extremist Taliban regime.

Sailors ‘shower in diesel’ on Kanimbla

SAILORS aboard  HMAS Kanimbla “showered in diesel” and were told not to touch the ship’s drinking water because it was contaminated, navy sources say.

Sources told NEWS.com.au that the latest contamination of the freshwater supply onboard the Kanimbla occurred less than a month ago, when bilge-water flowed into the crucial supplies.

Sailors were banned from showering for days on end because of the high levels of diesel and oil found inside two of the ship’s three freshwater tanks during a special APEC summit operation. 

A source said that when the vessel finally docked in Sydney Harbour, a team of sailors was “ordered” to go to Bunnings Warehouse and buy a rainwater tank to store a new supply of fresh water.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 4th, 2007 and is filed under Afghanistan, Australia, Japan, Maritime Strategy News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.