A Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine collided Monday with a commercial vessel in the Pacific Ocean off Shikoku, with three crew members on the submarine slightly injured but no major damage reported, government officials said.
The 84-meter-long Soryu scraped the hull of the vessel as it was surfacing, the Defense Ministry said, adding that the submarine's antenna mast and other upper parts were slightly damaged but it was able to continue sailing.
Top government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference that a ship believed to be the one involved in the collision, when contacted by the Japan Coast Guard, reported that no impact was felt and it does not appear to have sustained any damage.