One dead, six missing after boat capsizes off disputed Senkaku Islands

TOKYO – One person is dead and six missing, Japan’s coast guard said on Monday, after a boat capsized and was spotted in waters off the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islets, which are also claimed by China.

It was unclear where the boat had initially capsized, but on Sunday, a Japanese navy patrol spotted it drifting in waters north of the islands, coast guard spokesman Keisuke Nakao told AFP.

The crew include one Taiwanese and six Indonesians, he added.

“At around 9.15am, a body was found inside the cabin by divers, and an ID on the body suggests it was an Indonesian man,” another spokesman, Mr Masaya Tokita, said.

The coast guard has been searching the area with patrol ships and helicopters since receiving the information about the capsized boat on Sunday afternoon from the Maritime Self-Defence Force.

The media in Japan said the boat was Taiwanese, but the coast guard said it still had few details on the vessel, though it “seems to be a fishing boat”.

Mr Nakao said the Japanese authorities were coordinating with their counterparts in Taiwan, which also lays claim to the Senkaku islets. Beijing calls the uninhabited territory the Diaoyu Islands.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that the vessel was a Taiwan-registered fishing boat, and that it is suspected to have capsized near one of the Senkaku islets.

“The National Rescue Command Centre has contacted Taiwanese fishing boats near the site of the accident to assist in the search. Taiwan’s and Japan’s coast guards have also dispatched ships for search and rescue,” it said.

The boat’s registered name is Shin Charng Fa No. 88, according to Taiwan’s fisheries agency.

The vessel left northern Taiwan’s Keelung port last Monday, and it contacted a Taiwanese fishing boat nearby for help on Sunday, the agency added. AFP