At least two crew of the Japanese-flagged Jin Tian container ship that sank early on Wednesday have died, and rescue ships have found at least 14 survivors during search operations.
AP reported on Thursday that civilian ships and South Korean and Japanese Coast Guard vessels and aircraft had launched a search in turbulent waters between South Korea and Japan where they found 14 of the 22 crew members from the vessel that sank off the South Western Coast of Japan. The ship sank at around 02:00 on Wednesday.
Six crew members were picked up by South Korean coast guard vessels, while a cargo ship picked up five and Japanese aircraft picked up three, according to the South Korean Coast Guard.
South Korean officials said nine of the survivors were unconscious, but they did not immediately confirm any deaths. Ten crew members were later airlifted to Nagasaki for medical treatment but officials confirmed that two had been declared dead on arrival.
The search for the eight missing crew members was continuing, but strong winds and waves had been hampering their efforts, South Korean officials told AP.
The Jin Tian went down in Japan’s exclusive economic zone about 3.5 hours after it sent a distress call at around 23:15 on Tuesday, Japanese coast guard spokesperson Shinya Kitahara said.
The vessel, which was carrying wood, sank about 160 kilometres southwest of Nagasaki and about 150 kilometres south of South Korea’s Jeju Island.
The captain had last communicated with the coast guard through a satellite phone around 02:41, saying the crew would abandon the ship, just six minutes before it sank, a coast guard official said.
A total of 14 crew members are Chinese and eight are from Myanmar. The ship left Malaysia’s Port Klang on December 3 and was sailing to South Korea’s Incheon port.
The ship is owned by Long Bright Shipping, a Hong Kong-registered company that is a subsidiary of Shenzhen Shekou Shipping Transportation.
