NAGASAKI (Kyodo) A jet ferry collided Sunday with an object believed to have been a whale off Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, slightly injuring 11 passengers, Japan Coast Guard officials said.
Ninety passengers and seven crew members were aboard the 162-ton Beetle No. 3 at the time of the accident, they said.
The ferry left Busan, South Korea, at 8:45 a.m. and was headed for Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, when it hit something at 10:20 a.m.
The ferry made an emergency stop at Hitakatsu port in Tsushima around 2 p.m. after it could not navigate at high speed due to the accident. Passengers were transferred to another jet ferry and continued on to Hakata.
Busan-Hakata jet ferries have a history of such accidents, and JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Inc. takes preventative measures such as using speakers to play sounds that whales dislike.