JAPANESE SUBMARINE HOUSE SHUT DOWN AFTER ‘SEQUENCE OF INFLUENCE’ INJURIES

JAPANNESE SUBMARSERSHIPS, the Japanese government’s naval force, was forced to shut down its submarine house in Tokyo on Tuesday, the latest of several such incidents to hit the service since the end of the Cold War.

The navy said the incident was “a result of an inappropriate interference with an operational test”.

A government statement on the incident, issued by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), said the test, conducted on January 22 and 23, was conducted in accordance with the requirements of the maritime safety policy, but did not result in an impact to the safety of the vessel or crew.

The statement said the “incident resulted in an excessive degree of force” to the test boat, and the “results of the test are under investigation”.

Japan is grappling with a growing number of safety issues amid the ongoing economic downturn, including the rise of submarine warfare.

Last week, an unidentified submarine fired on a Japan-based U.S. naval ship, and two months earlier, a Japanese submarine fired a missile at a U.N. patrol ship in the Sea of Japan.

In June, a U-boat was sunk by a UCLO-based patrol ship.

Earlier this month, the submarine was shot at by a helicopter, but no one was injured.

Earlier this year, Japan reported a total of five submarine attacks since 2000, including one on an international maritime patrol vessel in the Gulf of Aden.