KITAKYUSHU, Japan, Sept. 20 (Kyodo) -- The Japan Coast Guard, police and other organizations jointly conducted Monday a large-scale antiterrorism drill in the Kammon Strait between Honshu and Kyushu.
Fifteen organizations took part in the drill, the first of its kind in the strait, deploying 14 vessels including patrol boats and mobilizing about 700 officials.
The scenario for the drill centered around terrorists boarding a freighter and a ferry to attack Moji port in the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Shimonoseki port in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
At Moji port, coast guard officials boarded the freighter and subdued those playing the role of a knife-wielding foreign crew, and fire crews in protective suits recovered anthrax-like white powder from the ship.
At Shimonoseki port, coast guard officials and police officers boarded the ferry in which officials playing terrorists were holed up, successfully persuading them to surrender.
A police bomb-disposal unit also removed a mock explosive device planted at the passenger terminal of the port.
Ryunosuke Yokoyama, head of the coast guard's Moji branch, said relevant organizations need to continue cooperation to deal with terrorism because about 20 percent of ships passing through the strait are foreign vessels.
