(2)3 MSDF vessels leave Sasebo for Indian Ocean

SASEBO, Japan - Two destroyers of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) -- the 5,200-ton Kurama (foreground) and the 4,550-ton Kirisame (background) -- sail from the town of Oseto, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Nov. 9 after leaving the MSDF's Sasebo base earlier in the day. The two destroyers and the 8,100-ton supply ship Hamana are expected to arrive in the Indian Ocean in two weeks, where the three-ship flotilla will conduct a fact-finding mission as part of Japan's plan to provide noncombat support to the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan.