On June 22^nd, the training ship Kojima (46 cadets on board) called at Honolulu harbor for joint SAR exercise with the USCG for the purpose of enhancing cooperation between Japan and US Coast Guard.

However, around 4 a.m. (JST), she received a request from JRCC Honolulu to search a missing diver off Kauai.

The Japan Coast Guard and the US Coast Guard decided to cancel the joint exercise and Kojima rushed to the scene and joined the SAR operation with the USCG cutter and aircrafts.

Unfortunately, they couldn't find out the diver and Kojima set sail to next port, Konnor, Palau Republic, at 2:40 p.m.(JST) on June 24^th.

The cadets of Kojima noticed the difficulty of SAR operation and got a really valuable experience about a real international joint operation before their career as junior officers will be started. After that, they want to succeed next time with the chagrin from this experience, and their international training cruise is continued.