The Japanese government is preparing to set aside ¥25bn ($235m) to build a brand new hospital ship to tackle national emergencies such as the current coronavirus crisis.
The project for the 500-bed, state-of-the-art was first mooted to help the country cope with its frequent natural disasters, such as earthquakes and tsunamis.
But the recent incident involving 3,534 passengers and crew quarantined on board the 107,500-gt cruiseship Diamond Princess (built 1998) in Yokohama, leading to mass coronavirus infection on the ship, has now forced the proponents' hand.
