A Chinese fishing boat Minjinyu 05891 collided with a Greece-registered cargo ship Anangel Courage about 65 km off Uotsuri Island, the largest in the Senkaku Group of islets north of Ishigaki City, early Thursday morning.

The Chinese boat sank shortly after the collision, and the crewmen were thrown into the sea.

A Japanese 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters patrol boat rescued six of the crewmen. The Chinese boat reportedly had a crew of 14, and the Coast Guard continue searching for the missing 8 crewmen using eight patrol boats and an aircraft.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry informed Beijing of the incident, and the Chinese side expressed appreciation for the rescue operation.

According to the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, the Chinese fishing boat was heading to Australia from China. The weather conditions in the area were poor at the time.

Reportedly, many of Chinese patrol and fishing boats are currently around the area off the disputed Senkakus. 200 – 300 boats were fishing around the Japanese contiguous zone, and some of them were reported straying into the Japanese territory.

• 
• NO DATA