Three surviving crew members from a capsized North Korean fishing boat, found in the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, were handed over to another North Korean vessel on Thursday.
As of Thursday afternoon the Japan Coast Guard was still searching for 12 crew members believed to be missing, sending divers into the overturned boat.
The 20-meter-long wooden ship was first spotted by a Maritime Self-Defense Force plane at around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, about 360 kilometers north of Ishikawa Prefecture's Noto Peninsula.