(Tokyo) Eight people died when a South Korean-flagged tanker sank off the coast of Japan on Wednesday, the Japanese coast guard announced.
“Their deaths were confirmed in hospital,” a coastguard spokesperson told AFP, after initially announcing that the people had been rescued. Another person is in stable condition and two others are still missing.
The boat had a total of 11 crew members: two South Koreans, eight Indonesians and one Chinese.
The boat was carrying 980 tonnes of acrylic acid, but “we do not know if there is a leak into the ocean,” the spokesperson said.
Footage from Japanese broadcaster NHK showed the overturned red hull of a boat, a life raft and a coast guard vessel tossed by strong waves and a helicopter flying over the boat.
The crew notified the coast guard early Wednesday that the ship was capsizing and requested help near Mutsure Island, off Japan’s southwest coast, according to NHK.
The Japanese Coast Guard received a distress call shortly after 7 a.m. local time (6 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday) warning that the boat was “rocking,” the spokesperson said.
According to NHK, the ship is named after Keoyoung Sun. According to the specialist site vesselfinder.com, it is a chemical and hydrocarbon tanker built in 1996 and measuring 69 meters long.
His operator did not wish to comment.
Japan was swept by violent winds on Wednesday which were expected to continue for the next few days.
Earlier this month, a South Korean fishing boat carrying nine crew members, including seven Indonesians, capsized off the country’s southern coast, leaving six missing.