Japan Marine United (JMU) Corporation has launched the fifth Awaji-class mine countermeasures vessel (MCMV) on order for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF).
The 67 meters-long boat, which has been named ใใใใพใ Kerama (with pennant number MSO 308), entered the water in a ceremony held on December 18 at the companyโs factory in Yokohama City. The vessel is expected to enter service with the JMSDF by March 2027.
The vessel’s name is derived fromย Kerama Island in Okinawa Prefecture.ย This marks the first time the JMSDF has assigned the name “Kerama” to a ship, and there is no precedent for its use in the former Imperial Japanese Navy.
Under JMSDF guidelines, minesweepers are named after islands or straits, including waterways and channels, in accordance with established naming conventions.
A JMSDF spokesperson told Naval News that the vessel was constructed for around 13.4 billion yen ($86 million).
JMU has built all four Awaji-class MCMVs. The fourth ship, JS Nomi, was commissioned in March 2025.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo has allocated about 26.3 billion yen ($169 million) for fiscal year 2024 to build the sixth vessel of the class. It also requested 34.2 billion yen($219.4 million) for the construction of the seventh vessel in the proposed budget for fiscal 2026, which was announced in August.
The planned number of Awaji-class vessels is nine.
According to the JMSDF, the Awaji-class has a crew complement of around 50, a standard displacement of 690 tons, a beam of 11 m, and a draught of 5.2 m. Each of the vessels in service is powered by two diesel engines of 2,200 hp each and has a stated top speed of 14 kt.
The hull of these platforms has been constructed from a composite fiber-reinforced plastic material to reduce weight as well as the magnetic signature of the platforms during minesweeping operations. The material is also highly corrosion-resistant, according to the JMSDF.
A JMSDF spokesperson told Naval News that the Awaji-class vessels are expected to be in service for about 30 years while wooden-hulled minesweepers have a service life of about 20 years.
JS Kerama is equipped with light detection and ranging (LIDAR) surveillance systems, which can locate objects under water at long range both during the day and at night.
The ship is equipped with the Mitsui E&S Holdingsโ expendable mine disposal system (EMDS) for mine identification as well as with the Hitachi-made variable depth sonar (VDS) system, which is designed to detect, locate, and classify mines. It is also equipped with the Remus 600 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), known as OZZ-4 and made by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to locate and clear deep mines.
JS Kerama is also equipped with a remote control weapon station, armed with a JM61R-MS 20mm calibre cannon, mainly in order to deal with surfaced mines, the spokesperson said.
The Kerama is scheduled to be assigned to a newly established unit tentatively named the โAmphibious Warfare and Mine Countermeasures Group,โ which will be placed under a new organization, the โFleet Surface Forceโ (provisional name), to be created by the end of fiscal 2025.
The Awaji-class has been built to replace the JMSDFโs three wooden-hulled Yaeyama-class minesweepers, the first of which entered service in 1993. All three of these ships were decommissioned by 2017.
Japanโs minesweeping capabilities are a specialty of the country. Minesweeping units have been active since before the establishment of the MSDF in 1954. They helped clear sea routes to clear mines laid by both the Japanese and US forces during the Second World War, and supported the postwar reconstruction of Japan as a maritime nation.
When the Korean War broke out in June 1950, the Japan Coast Guardโs Special Minesweeping Unit, established in 1948, was dispatched at the request of the U.S. to clear mines around the Korean Peninsula. In October 1950, a minesweeper struck a mine off the coast of Wonsan, North Korea, and sank, killing one crew member.
After the Gulf War that started in 1991, JMSDF minesweepers were also dispatched to remove mines in the Persian Gulf.
Here is the video including more pictures from the ceremony prepared by the author:
