BSS
  04 Mar 2024, 13:22

One missing, 24 rescued off Japanese fishing boat

 TOKYO, March 4, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - One person was missing and 24 others were rescued on Monday after their fishing boat lost power and drifted onto rocks in rough seas off Japan, the coast guard said.

Dramatic television footage showed the 56-metre (183-foot) vessel on its side being pounded by waves as the crew huddled on deck and a helicopter hovered overhead.

The tuna-fishing ship had engine trouble on Sunday afternoon off the Izu archipelago south of Japan's main island of Honshu, with the captain reporting Monday morning that one person was missing, a coast guard spokesman told AFP.

In an operation involving patrol boats and helicopters, all the remaining crew members had been rescued by Monday morning, the spokesman said.

The vessel's crew included five Japanese nationals and 20 Indonesians.

The missing person was Japanese, the spokesman said.