Dense fog blanketed areas around the archipelago early Friday and is being blamed for two ships colliding in the Pacific Ocean off the Izu Peninsula and another two vessels hitting each other off Cape Anorisaki in Mie Prefecture, the Japan Coast Guard said.
Two small Japanese tankers collided off Cape Irozaki on the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula. Nobody was injured and no oil was spilled, the coast guard said.
The tankers were identified as the 196-ton Sanja Maru No. 21 from Fukuoka Prefecture, with four crew members, and the 498-ton Aiwa Maru from Okayama Prefecture, with a crew of five.
The vessels collided at about 1:20 a.m. some 27 km off the cape in Shizuoka Prefecture, the coast guard said.
The Sanja Maru No. 21 was carrying 390 tons of cooking oil, while the Aiwa Maru was running empty.
The two tankers entered Shimoda port on the Izu Peninsula at around 7 a.m., the coast guard said.
In the accident off Cape Anorisaki, a South Korean tanker and a Thai containership collided, causing the tanker to spill fuel oil, the coast guard said. One crew member on the tanker was injured, they said.
The 1,448-ton Woo Ryong, with a crew of 12, leaked 2,600 liters of heavy fuel oil when it collided with the 1,318-ton containership Ratanathida, with 19 crew members, at 2:15 a.m.