The arrival Monday of a U.S. submarine in Sasebo port, Nagasaki Prefecture, without advance notification was due to a misunderstanding by the U.S. Navy in Japan over where the sub was anchored, Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Tuesday.
The USS Chicago reported the latitude and longitude of its planned anchorage site, which was inside the port, to the Navy, but the coordinates were misunderstood as being a position outside the port, Kono said during his meeting with Nagasaki Gov. Genjiro Kaneko, according to a Foreign Ministry official.
The failure to give at least 24 hours advance notice of a port visit by a U.S. nuclear-powered vessel, as agreed by the two countries, sparked a wave of criticism from local governments Monday.