Shikishima-class patrol vessel
The is a class of PLH type patrol vessels of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG; former Maritime Safety Agency, MSA). In the official classification, Shikishima and Akitsushima are treated as the only ships in their classes, respectively; and Reimei is treated as the lead ship of her class. The Shikishima class was once the world's largest coast guard vessel until it was surpassed by the Chinese in 2015. Backgrounds Spent nuclear fuel generated at the nuclear power plants in Japan has been processed at nuclear reprocessing plants in Britain and France, into plutonium and radioactive waste. Then, according to the plan of power generation with the MOX fuel, the Government of Japan decided to transport this plutonium back to Japan. In the first transportation from France in 1984, armed JMSA officers were on board the ship to counter maritime hijacking. A second transportation operation was planned in the early 1990s, but due to the revision of the Japan-U.S. Nuclear power agreement in 1988, it was requested to strengthen the security system and the JMSA was to escort with a special tactical team (one of the ancestors of the Special Security Team) and a patrol vessel. On existing patrol boats, however,