The Japanese and South Korean coast guards held a joint rescue exercise Wednesday in the East China Sea.

The drill began about 230 km south of Jeju Island, South Korea, under a scenario in which a fishing boat sinks and its crew is adrift in a raft.

Each side sent a patrol ship, and the Japan Coast Guard also dispatched an airplane. The two coast guards exchanged such information as weather, current and tidal conditions in the area to determine the probable direction the raft would drift before rescuing the crew.

It was the fourth exercise of its kind since 1999.