One body recovered from sunken cargo ship lost in collision in western Japan

The Japan Coast Guard has found the body of one of two crewmen who went missing after their cargo vessel capsized and sank as a result of a collision in the waters of western Japan earlier this month.

The deceased individual was located by coast guard divers in the wheelhouse of the limestone carrier Seiryu, which sank after it collided with another vessel in the Seto Inland Sea off Ehime Prefecture at around 19:30 local time on Thursday, February 2.

Only the bottom of the overturned ship’s hull remains above the surface, forcing the coast guard to deploy divers to search through the submerged interior compartments for any trace of the missing sailors.

Authorities are now working to identify whether the recovered fatality is Seiryu‘s 63-year-old captain or the 24-year-old first officer.

The three surviving crewmembers from Seiryu were pulled out of the water shortly after the ship sank on Thursday. One of them was later transported to hospital to be treated for hypothermia.

No injuries have meanwhile been reported among the four-strong crew on the other vessel.