Japan's 6th Aegis destroyer delivered to MSDF

TOKYO, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Japan's sixth Aegis destroyer has been delivered to the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), said reports from the Southwestern port city of Nagasaki on Thursday.

The delivery ceremony of the 7,750-ton warship "Ashigara" was held Thursday morning at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' dockyard in Nagasaki amid public concerns over the collision of another Aegis destroyer Atago with a fishing boat last month, which left two fishermen dead.

The building of Ashigara, which costs 140 billion yen ( 1.4 billion U.S. dollars), began in April 2005.

The MSDF said that the warship will be deployed at Sasebo base in Nagasaki prefecture.