Japanese Coast Guard Rescues 24 Fishermen from Sinking Ship

A Japanese coast guard helicopter carried out the rescue of 24 fishermen who were clinging to the deck of a listing, partially submerged fishing boat pounded by high waves on Monday morning near an Izu island chain southwest of Tokyo.

Tragically, one crew member who was thrown overboard before the rescue arrived was discovered dead, confirmed by the Japan Coast Guard. Identified as the ship's first engineer, he was a 67-year-old Japanese man.

The coast guard reported that the Fukuei Maru No. 8, departing from Yaizu Port in central Japan bound for South America, encountered mechanical issues around 5pm on Sunday, roughly five hours into its journey, and drifted onto rocks amidst rough seas in Japan. The ship was carrying a total of 25 crew members, consisting of five Japanese nationals, including the captain, and 20 Indonesian nationals.

real incident photo

_{Photo: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha}

The ship seemingly drifted in the turbulent seas, propelled by strong winds, and the captain issued a distress signal about five hours later, indicating that the vessel had struck rocks and reported that one crew member was missing, as per the coast guard. Within two hours of the rescuers' arrival at the scene, the ship informed them that one crew member was unaccounted for. By Monday morning, through a coordinated effort involving patrol boats and helicopters, all remaining crew members were successfully rescued, as stated by the spokesman.

The coast guard deployed three patrol ships and three helicopters with specialised rescue teams to the location where the 379-ton ship, measuring 56 metres (183 feet) in length, ran aground just north of Kozushima Island, situated within the Izu group approximately 170 kilometres (43 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

representative image

_{Photo: BNN Breaking}

NHK's broadcast showed crew members on the bridge of the partially submerged ship, bracing against waves as they awaited airlifting by a hovering helicopter. As of now, the cause behind the ship's engine failure and subsequent power loss remains unknown.