TOKYO —

Two cargo ships collided off the coast of a central Japanese island Tuesday, leaving 16 South Korean and Indonesian crew members missing, Japan’s coast guard said.
 
The coast guard dispatched five ships and three helicopters to search for the 16 crew—seven South Koreans and nine Indonesians. They were on board the South Korean-registered cargo ship, which collided with a Panama-registered cargo vessel in the waters off Izu Oshima, a small island about 120 kilometers south of Tokyo.
 
“We are continuing search and rescue operations, but the 16 crew members remain missing,” said coast guard spokesman Hidefumi Onoue. He said the 4,255-ton South Korean ship was also missing, and that it might have sunk.
 
“When the collision took place early in the morning, the visibility of the area was very poor due to rain,” he said.
 
All 19 crew on the 10,833-ton Panama-registered ship are safe, Onoue said, adding that the vessel joined the search and rescue operations. The 19 crew comprised 14 Thais, three from Myanmar, and two Indonesians.
 
The South Korean ship carrying steel parts was on its way home, while the Panamanian ship carrying vehicles was heading toward a port in Aichi, about 200 kilometers west of the collision area, the coast guard said. It was not immediately clear how the collision happened.

Wire reports

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6 Comments

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  Yelnats at 09:13 AM JST - 10th March

  Either it is floating or it is sunk. Just fly around and look.

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  wanderlust at 11:11 AM JST - 10th March

  No radar on either ship? No proximity warnings?

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  rick0909 at 11:34 AM JST - 10th March

  That's why it says they are investigating.

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  soldave at 02:08 PM JST - 10th March

  BBC has a little more information:

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7934064.stm

  Helly - what sort of depth would you be talking in those waters?

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  soldave at 03:19 PM JST - 10th March

  Any idea how deep it would be in that area?

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  frontandcentre at 04:47 PM JST - 10th March

  wanderlust - both ships will have had radars and proper navigation equipment, but you need to be keeping a proper watch. It is too early to know for sure, but the collision probably occurred because someone wasn't aware (or awake) enough to avoid it.

  Let's hope that those guys manged to get aboard a lifeboat and can still be found safe and well. Bow damage to one ship and the disappearance of the other don't bode well, however

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