Agreement on north-side plan for Naha Military Port relocation raises concerns of intensification of military functions; design and functions to be discussed going forward

Agreement on north-side plan for Naha Military Port relocation raises concerns of intensification of military functions; design and functions to be discussed going forward

Naha Military Port on August 20, 2020


August 24, 2020 Ryukyu Shimpo

The Okinawa Prefectural Government and Naha and Urasoe municipal governments came to a de facto agreement on the relocation to Urasoe of the U.S. military’s Naha Port Facility (Naha Military Port), agreeing that the replacement facility will be built on the north side of the Urasoe wharf zone. Discussions are expected to accelerate now that contention regarding the positioning of the replacement facility, which was the biggest factor stalling the talks, has been resolved. The three parties aim to proceed with the relocation from the perspective of economic revitalization, but they face many challenges. There is criticism that the relocation merely moves the U.S. military facility to another part of Okinawa, just as in the case of the new base construction in Henoko, Nago. Amidst many twists and turns, the environment surrounding the relocation issue has also seen a drastic change. Below we will review the issues surrounding of the military port relocation issue.

There are undispellable concerns that the military functions of Naha Military Port will be intensified when it is relocated to Urasoe. All that has been decided as of yet is the general plan that a replacement facility for the military port will be built on the north side of the civilian port in Urasoe, with the details of the design and functions subject to future negotiations. There is no assurance that the base functions will be limited to their current scope. The water depth at the planned relocation site is deeper than at the present site, and it is highly likely that larger-scale ships will able to enter the new port.

At the present military port, the water is only about 10 meters deep, while the water off the Urasoe wharf zone at the relocation site is said to be 15-20 meters deep. This is equivalent to the depth at the new wharf zone at Naha Port, where many large ships come to port, and depending on negotiations following the relocation, it may become possible for large U.S. military vessels to enter the port.

The Okinawa Prefectural Government and Urasoe municipal government have confirmed with the Japanese government that the functions of and operations at the relocation site will not exceed those at the present military port in their acceptance of the relocation plan. However, since the design and functions are subject to future negotiations, it is not clear that the facility’s functions will be limited to their present level.

Concerning the return of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma, which is similarly conditioned on relocation within Okinawa, a condition leading to considerable resistance, it was discovered after the fact that the base functions would be intensified in the base construction for relocation to Henoko, Nago. People came to refer to the construction as construction of a “new base” as it became clear that the base being constructed will include functions not present at MCAS Futenma.

(English translation by T&CT and Sandi Aritza)

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