Two crew members from a cargo ship are missing after the vessel capsized late Thursday off Wakayama Prefecture following a collision with another freighter, the coast guard said Friday. Three other crew members were rescued.
The search continues for the two people who were aboard the Japanese-registered 499-ton Izumi Maru, with one of them being the captain, who is in his 50s, according to the Japan Coast Guard and the ship's owner, Tokyo-based Izumikaiun.
A Liberian-registered cargo ship weighing 9,940 tons made an emergency call at around 11:40 p.m. Thursday, reporting that it had collided with a ship in the Kii Channel off the prefecture, the coast guard said. None of its 18 crew members were injured.
The Izumi Maru was carrying approximately 1,100 tons of scrap metal when it departed from Chiba Prefecture on Wednesday afternoon for Okayama Prefecture.
The accident occurred about 15 kilometers northwest of Hidaka, Wakayama. Visibility in the area was good at the time, the coast guard said.