Kenichi Fukaya, who assumed the post the same day, told an inaugural news conference in Tokyo, ''We do not expect that we will not be able to salvage the ship by the end of the year.''

''If typhoons do not hit (near the operation site) like last month, we believe we will complete the mission by the end of August,'' Fukaya said, referring to delayed salvage operations for the unidentified ship due to typhoons.

The government initially planned to raise the ship by the end of July but the operation is behind the schedule due to rough weather in the area.

The ship sank in waters about 90 meters deep some 390 kilometers off Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, after exchanging fire with coast guard patrol boats on Dec. 22.

On possible similar incidents by unidentified ships, Fukaya indicated the coast guard will handle the matter resolutely.

At the same time, though, he said that under current conditions, the ability of the coast guard is limited in terms of dealing with armed unidentified ships.

''Problems such as getting bigger coast guard ships and introduction of high-performance weapons remain unresolved,'' he said. ''We want to deal with the problems by budgetary requests for next fiscal year, though the financial situation is severe.''

Before becoming the chief of the coast guard, Fukaya served as director general of the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.

''I was in charge of matters involving hijackings and crisis control such as the (Sept. 11) terror attacks on the United States. I will undertake utmost efforts to ensure security of the sea from now,'' he said.

Japan believes the ship was North Korean and on a spying or drug-trafficking mission off the Japanese coast when it was intercepted by the coast guard. North Korea has denied the allegations.

An estimated 15 people were aboard the ship. The coast guard has recovered the remains of four people.