Ships of Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces to arrive in St. Petersburg
ST. PETERSBURG. July 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Destroyers of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces, DD-127 Isoyuki and DD-123 Shirayuki, will arrive in St. Petersburg for an unofficial visit on July 31, Western Military District press office head Colonel Oleg Kochetkov told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
"The Japanese ships will unmoor from St. Petersburg's English Embankment, near the Blagoveshchensky Bridge, where its ship-host, Soobrazitelny (Bright) corvette of the Baltic Fleet will escort them throughout the visit," Kochetkov said.
Japanese sailors will tour the sights of St. Petersburg and the Kuznetsov Naval Academy, where they will see the training processes of their Russian colleagues, Kochetkov said.
Japanese and Russian sailors will also hold a friendly football match and a traditional "state cabin exchange," during which Japanese sailors will learn the peculiarities of service and life in the Russian navy and the crew of the Soobrazitelny corvette will be guests aboard a Japanese destroyer.
The unofficial visit of the DD-127 Isoyuki and DD-123 Shirayuki destroyers will last five days and will end on August 4.