SUMIHO MARU

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Course/Position

Latest news

Four missing after collision

The "Senshou Maru" (IMO: 9623075) was in collision with the "Sumiho Maru" (IMO: 8742666) on May 26, 2019, about six miles south of Inobusaki Cape in the Chiba Prefecture off Honshu island. The "Senshou Maru", which was loaded with 1.600 tons of steel bound from Kashima in eastern Japan to Osaka, sank after the incident, of the five crew members on board four went missing. Only Hiraku Fujita, the captain, was rescued. One of the ship’s crew members was later confirmed dead. A special rescue team discovered the sunken ship lying on the bottom on its port side in about 30 meters of water. Akira Yano, 72, of the Shizuoka Prefecture, was found inside the ship and was later confirmed dead. The missing crew members were Kazufumi Kamimura, 60, of Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, Hiroshi Seno, 69, of Akita Prefecture and Saigo Umakoshi, 67, of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture. Their ship was en route from Kashima to Osaka. The "Sumiho Maru", which had come from Kashima, suffered only little damage to the bow. The crew of four was not injured, and the ship managed to return to port. Meanwhile an oil leak was spotted at the scene of the collision. The Japanese Coastguard has deployed five patrol boats, a helicopter and a special SAR unit to try to find the missing, and another special unit was deployed for containing the oil slick. Reports with photos: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/05/26/national/four-missing-japan-flagged-cargo-ship-sinks-collision-off-chiba-prefecture/#.XOrFU2d7nIU https://www.lematin.ch/monde/Japon-deux-navires-se-heurtent-quatre-disparus/story/17040473