The government will transport to Japan four pirates who attacked a tanker run by a Japanese company off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean, government sources said Tuesday.

The transfer of the pirates to Japan will mark the first such case since an antipiracy law took effect in July 2009 that stipulates that acts of piracy are punishable by prison terms ranging from five years to life.

U.S. forces, which took the four into custody, are expected to hand them over to the Maritime Self-Defense Force as early as Tuesday, and an MSDF destroyer in Oman will take them to Djibouti, where the ship is based for antipiracy operations, the sources said.