Ehime Prefecture Offshore Cargo Ship Collision Accident Three Unknown Crew Search Continued by Diving

On the 27th, in the Seto Inland Sea off the coast of Ehime Prefecture, the whereabouts of three Japanese cargo ship crew members who collided with a foreign-registered ship were lost, and they sank to the bottom of the sea, centered on the Japan Coast Guard special rescue team. Searches by submersion are being conducted intermittently aiming at the engine room of the cargo ship.

On the night of the 27th, a Japanese cargo ship "White Tiger" collided with a foreign-registered chemical ship "ULSAN PIONEER" near the Kurushima Strait northwest of Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, and the cargo ship overturned and sank. did.

In this accident, the whereabouts of the captain of the cargo ship, Yasushi Sato (66), the first engineer, Yuki Ogawa (27), and the second engineer, Takahiro Uehata (22), are unknown.

The search by diving was conducted intermittently four times from the morning of the 28th to the morning of the 29th, centered on the Japan Coast Guard's special rescue team.

According to the Imabari Coast Guard, the search by diving is aimed at the engine room near the stern, where two engineers were believed to have been inside the cargo ship that sank on the seabed.

However, although the cargo ship was able to enter the ship because the water depth was as deep as about 60 meters and the cargo ship was sunk upside down, the search was difficult, and the missing crew members have been found so far. It means that there is no such thing.

The search by diving will be carried out after this during the time when the tide is weakening.

In addition, the Japan Coast Guard and others continue to search by ship in the surrounding waters.

Ships usually sail on the right side, but the Kurushima Strait is a rare sea area where the route changes depending on the direction of the tide, and it was sailing on the left side at the time of the accident.

In the case of left sailing, the route of the ship trying to return to right sailing and the route of the ship trying to change to left sailing intersect at the entrance and exit of the strait.

The Japan Coast Guard is investigating the detailed situation of the accident.