Divers Monday retrieved the body of the 56-year-old skipper of a shrimp boat that collided with a gravel carrier the previous day, but they halted the search for three other members of his crew.
The body, pulled from the waters off the town of Tomamae by divers dispatched by the local fisheries cooperative, was identified as that of Toshikazu Ishioka, skipper of the 19-ton Suehiro Maru No. 55.
The divers' search for the three other crew members was called off before noon, but Japan Coast Guard patrol ships continued the search.
Seijiro Sugawara, the 55-year-old second mate of the other vessel, the Myoetsu Maru No. 18, was arrested after Sunday's collision on suspicion of professional negligence.
Deadly collision
KOBE (Kyodo) A fisherman was killed Monday when his boat collided with a South Korean-registered freighter off Awaji Island, Hyogo Prefecture, the Japan Coast Guard said.
The 4.9-ton fishing boat Fukusho Maru capsized after colliding with the 8,273-ton cargo ship about 9 km west of the island at around 4:30 a.m., the coast guard said. None of the 16 crew members on the South Korean ship was injured.
The owner of the fishing boat, Akira Nishio, 53, was pulled from the sea but later was confirmed dead, it said.
Local coast guard officials said the weather was fine and visibility was good. The freighter was going from Osaka to Pusan, South Korea.