A fishing boat capsized off the coast of Kashima Port in Ibaraki Prefecture early Monday morning, leaving two dead and three others missing, according to the Japan Coast Guard’s Ibaraki office.
The capsized vessel, identified as the 80-ton Ohama Maru No. 8 belonging to JF Otsu — a fisheries cooperative in the city of Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture — was carrying 20 crew members, including 15 Japanese citizens and five Indonesian nationals.
Seventeen members have been accounted for but two of them — Japanese men in their 50s and 60s — were confirmed dead.
At around 2:08 a.m. Monday, a nearby fishing vessel reported that a purse seiner had overturned about 31 kilometers east of Kashima Port, according to the coast guard.
One of the crew members who had been rescued reportedly said the vessel tilted gradually after a large amount of fish was caught in a net.
The missing crew members, all Japanese men in their 40s, 60s and 70s, are believed to have been thrown overboard during the incident. Rescue efforts involving four patrol vessels and a helicopter are ongoing, NHK reported.
The ship had been fishing for sardines in the area alongside two other vessels since midday Sunday, according to JF Otsu. Several other boats in the area also joined the search for the missing crew.
Weather conditions at the time were calm, with clear skies and wave heights of 0.5 meters, according to the coast guard. NHK also reported that crew members from nearby vessels described the sea as unusually tranquil, noting that the conditions were not typical for a capsizing.
