3 killed in ship collision in Okinawa Prefecture

Written by Writer on Friday, October 24th, 2008

3 killed in ship collision in Okinawa Prefecture

NAHA–A fishing boat and a cargo ship collided about 1.8 kilometers south of Minna Island in Motobucho, Okinawa Prefecture, at 4:50 a.m. Thursday, leaving three people dead and three others injured.

There were six fishermen onboard the Kohei Maru, a fishing boat belonging to a local fisheries cooperative in Naha, when it collided with the Shuri, a 9,813-ton cargo ship belonging to Kinkai Yusen Logistics Co., an affiliate of Nippon Yusen Co., which was sailing towards Naha Port with a crew of 11, including its captain, Masato Sato.

The impact resulted in all six members of the 14.75-ton fishing boat, including its skipper, Akira Nakamura, being flung overboard.

The six fishermen were picked up about two hours later by vessels dispatched by the Naha-based 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters and were sent to a hospital in Nago in the prefecture, after which three of them died.
(Oct. 25, 2008)