March 4, 2008
The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC; Mr. Yasuhiro Kato, President) is publicly announce that the search operation on the collision between MSDF DDG ATAGO and a fish boat SEITOKU MARU will be finished on March 4, 2008 under the direction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) at the request of the Ministry of Defense.

Accordingly, the Research Vessel NATSUSHIMA departed the research area and will return to the private quay of JAMSTEC Yokosuka headquarter around 18:30 on March 4, 2008.

For detail information about retrieval of objects, please inquire to the Japan Coast Guard since they are under the jurisdiction of the Japan Coast Guard.

Contacts:

Shinji Oshima, email: press@jamstec.go.jp
Manager, Planning Department Press Office
The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology