Last week, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) commissioned Hibiki-class ocean surveillance ship JS Aki (AOS-5203).
The commissioning and delivery ceremony took place at Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding’s (Mitsui E&S) Tamano shipyard on 4 March 2021.
4 MAR, the JMSDF held the Ship Commissioning ceremony of the Ocean Surveillance Ship JS AKI at Tamano Works, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. She is the 3rd HIBIKI type and her name is from Aki-nada in the Seto Inland Sea. pic.twitter.com/m6zrKMna4K
Featuring a length of 67 meters and a width of 29.9 meters, JS Aki is JMSDF’s third Hibiki-class unit which has a small-waterplane-area twin hull (SWATH) design.
With a full load displacement of 3,861 tons, the ship can reach a speed of 11 knots.
The newbuild is equipped with an AN/UQQ-2 surveillance towed array sensor system (SURTASS). Additionally, it is powered by four Mitsubishi diesel-electric engines.
The entire ceremony was shared by Mitsui E&S in the video below:
JS Aki’s commissioning came only a day after Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) launched JS Mogami (FFM-1), the first-in-class of next-generation multi-mission frigates ordered by the JMSDF.