Need Enhanced ASW Capabilities? Bingo!

Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has just named and launched Bingo, set to become the fourth Hibiki-class ocean surveillance vessel of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF).

The ship was launched on Monday at MHI’s shipyard in Tamano, which sits halfway between Hiroshima and Kobe on the south coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu.

As per a recent JMSDF social media statement, the acoustic measurement vessel’s moniker was chosen from the name of a local bay, Bingo-nada, part of the Seto Inland Sea.

Once fitting out is complete, Bingo is scheduled to be commissioned in March next year. According to reports the cost of the vessel, ordered in 2022, is estimated in the region of $130 million.

The Hibiki-class ships are designed as mobile sonar listening stations designed to detect and track submarines in the seas around Japan using towed sonar arrays.

• You can read more details on the JMSDF website