(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I would like to report on the crash of the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) helicopters. With regard to the crash of MSDF helicopters that occurred on April 20, since then, we have made every effort to search for the missing personnel and the helicopters in the sea around the site. From April 27, we sent out the oceanographic research vessel JS Syounan to carry out a search of the ocean floor of the site and analyze the data, but helicopters or equipment have not been found. In this situation, the decision has now been made for DEEP TOW, a deep ocean floor survey system belonging to the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), a national research and development agency under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), to participate in the search operation. I am aware that DEEP TOW is a system with high performance in deep ocean surveys, and am grateful for the cooperation of MEXT and JAMSTEC. We are currently making arrangements for DEEP TOW to start search operations from early July after undergoing required maintenance and other preparations.