SAPPORO – The Japan Coast Guard rescued a crew member from a capsized boat in the Tsugaru Strait between Hokkaido and Aomori Prefecture on Saturday nearly 15 hours after the vessel was found capsized Friday afternoon.
Katsuyuki Nagata, 64, from the city of Nagasaki, was rescued from the stricken boat, the Meiyu No. 18, at around 5:40 a.m. Saturday, coast guard officials said. He managed to survive after finding a small breathing space.
There were four crew members on the boat.
Coast guard and fire department officials said the bodies of two men had been found by early Saturday near the accident site off Hakodate, and one of them was identified as crew member Takeshi Yanagimachi, 39. The other was identified as skipper Masaki Mizuno, 43.
The Meiyu No. 18 belongs to a shipping company in Kumamoto Prefecture. The boat was towing a pontoon carrying ship components.