Three Japanese navy vessels will dock at the port in Sihanoukville on Monday as part of an initiative to strengthen friendship and diplomatic ties between the two nations.

The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships Makinami, Asayuki and Shimayuki, under the group command of Captain Masahiko Kawakubo will be in Cambodia from February 13 to 16 as part of a training cruise, according to a press release from the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh.

Following a docking ceremony on Monday at 10:30am, Captain Kawakubo is expected to visit the Ream Navy base as well as the Sihanoukville provincial office and the port authority.

He is also scheduled to visit Phnom Penh to pay a courtesy call to the Commander of the Cambodian Navy Tea Vinh on Tuesday.

Chhum Socheat, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense, said the arrival of the Japanese warships represents the sort of normal bilateral cooperation that Cambodia has already engaged in with other countries.

Japan is one of Cambodia’s largest annual aid donors.