Top officers in the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) may have lied when they claimed they received consent from the Japan Coast Guard before the defense minister questioned the chief navigator of a destroyer about its collision with a fishing boat, a top defense bureaucrat said.

"The Japan Coast Guard still can't confirm (that it gave consent to the MSDF on the phone)," Administrative Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda said.

When asked if top officers lied, Masuda said, "The possibility can't be completely ruled out."

It's only a matter of timing before Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba will step down, a high-ranking member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said. "It's inevitable. The question is when he will resign."

The chief navigator of the 7,700-ton Aegis-equipped destroyer Atago left the vessel by helicopter at around 9:10 a.m. on Feb. 19, about five hours after the accident off Chiba Prefecture, and flew to Tokyo, ministry officials said.

At around noon, the chief navigator was questioned by about 10 Defense Ministry officials including Minister Ishiba and Masuda in the minister's office.

Eiji Yoshikawa, chief of staff at the MSDF, has claimed that one of the top officials in its Maritime Staff Office obtained consent from the coast guard on the phone before transferring the chief navigator and other top crewmembers to Tokyo by helicopter for questioning.

However, the coast guard claims it cannot confirm that any of its officers gave their consent.

The top official who says he received consent said he called the coast guard on the morning of Feb. 19 but cannot remember what time or whom he talked to.

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