A Singapore-owned dive support construction vessel (DSCV) has been chartered by the Japanese government to help hunt for a missing top secret jet fighter.
The Ultra Deep Solutions (UDS) owned 9,200-gt Van Gogh (built 2018) is helping to find a downed Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) F-35A.
The DP2-rated DSCV has been equipped with US Navy remotely operated vehicles and a US Navy towed-pinger locator (TPL-25) system.
The F-35A aircraft, which costs around $85m each, went missing about 85 miles east of the Misawa Air Base in Aomori, in northern Japan on 9 April 2019.
Since then US Navy ships and aircraft have been searching an area spanning about 5,000 square nautical miles searching for the aircraft.
According to Air Self-Defense Force officers in Tokyo, the incident is the first crash involving an F-35A fighter anywhere in the world.
Last year the Van Gogh, which was built by China Merchants Heavy Industry, began a five-year charter to Malaysia’s Red Tech Offshore.
