U.S. nuclear aircraft carrier to dock at Japan's Sasebo Fri

Japan Policy & Politics, August 19, 2002

SASEBO, Japan, Aug. 12 Kyodo

The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln will dock Friday at Sasebo port in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki, government officials said Monday.

It will be the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to make a port call at Sasebo since the Carl Vinson in February 1990, the Foreign Ministry and Sasebo city officials said.

The U.S. Navy in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, said the port call by the 102,000-ton Nimitz-class Abraham Lincoln illustrates the partnership and cooperation between Japan and the United States on defense matters.

The 9,957-ton Aegis missile cruiser Shiloh, which is traveling with the carrier, will dock the same day at Hakata port, also in southwestern Japan, according to U.S. Navy officials.

Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the U.S., the dates of port calls by nuclear submarines have not been announced in advance due to concerns about terrorism. But port calls by aircraft carriers are still announced, the Navy officials said.

The Abraham Lincoln left the U.S. late last month and is calling at Sasebo en route to the Middle East, they said.