On 20 February, a transport ship "Osumi" of the Maritime Self Defense Force departed from Muroran Port, Hokkaido, for Kuwait with vehicles and equipments loaded for use in Iraq, together with its escort ship "Murasame". On the same day, another transport ship "Nemuro" also left the port for Kuwait. It is the first time in the history of the Self Defense Forces that all of them, Ground, Maritime and Air, are dispatched overseas together. In opposition to such a move, 100 dockworkers gathered from all around Japan in the city for the "Action in Muroran: Don't Dispatch the SDF to Battlefield! Don't Use a Port for Military Purposes!" on 17 and 18 February in snowy weather.