Two Japanese destroyers set sail Saturday on an anti-piracy mission off Somalia, the Japanese defense ministry said. The Japanese Cabinet approved the mission Friday. It marks the first policing action for the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), whose major overseas missions have previously focused on background support such as transport and refueling, Japan's Kyodo news agency said. The move comes after Somali pirates released a Japanese-owned vessel that was hijacked in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden in November, according to a nongovernmental group that monitors piracy. The ship was released last month. Roughly 400 MSDF personnel and eight coast guard officers are aboard the two destroyers, each of which carry two SH-60K patrol helicopters and two speedboats, officials told Kyodo. The 4,650-ton Sazanami and 4,550-ton Samidare destroyers left their base in the southern port city of Kure after a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Taro Aso and Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, Kyodo reported.
