The Ishigaki Coast Guard Office revealed that the deepest quay in Ishigaki Port is 10.5 meters, while the destroyer's draft is 9.8 meters. According to the Japan Ports and Harbors Association's standards, the required water depth for safe port use is calculated as "required water depth = draft of the incoming vessel x 1.1." T
Applying this formula, the destroyer's required water depth is 10.78 meters, surpassing the 10.5 meters depth of Ishigaki Port. As a result, the city's port and harbor department ruled that the destroyer could not enter the port due to the lack of a suitable quay.
Consequently, the U.S. Navy is planning an alternative method for the USS Rafael Peralta. The destroyer will anchor offshore, and the crew will be transferred to another ship before making landfall on Ishigaki Island without docking at the port. The Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper in Okinawa reported that the destroyer will be anchored at a quarantine anchorage about 3 kilometers offshore from the Ishigaki Port berth.
This incident marks the first port call to Ishigaki Island by either a U.S. military Aegis warship or a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis destroyer. Ishigaki Island, strategically located near Taiwan and the disputed Senkaku islands, holds geopolitical significance in relation to Beijing.
The island is part of the "first island chain," and the U.S. Aegis ship's port call is seen as a measure to address potential contingencies involving China, particularly concerning the Senkaku islands and Taiwan.
As tensions rise, China is actively strengthening its presence in the area west of the first island chain, further intensifying geopolitical dynamics in the region.
