A small Japanese cargo ship collided with a Honduran freighter Wednesday morning off Shodo Island in the Seto Inland Sea, leaving two Japanese dead, the Japan Coast Guard said.
Captain Hidetoshi Kamano, 38, Chief Engineer Yosuke Iwanaga and another Japanese were rescued by the freighter after falling overboard and rushed to a hospital in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, while in cardiorespiratory arrest. They were pronounced dead soon after arrival, the JCG said.
The eight crew members of the 1,573-ton Honduras-registered freighter Rose-River were unhurt. The freighter was headed for South Korea after leaving Kawasaki port in Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo.
The Bizan Maru is 199 tons. The accident occurred at around 6:40 a.m.