Osaka: Two cargo ships collided in waters off the coast of Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, late Thursday night, leaving two people missing, the Japan Coast Guard said.

The 499-ton Japanese cargo ship Izumi Maru capsized after the collision with a Liberian-registered cargo vessel in the Kii Channel, said the JCG’s Fifth Regional Coast Guard Headquarters based in the western Japan city of Kobe.

Five crew members in their 30s to 70s who were aboard the Izumi Maru went missing after the collision before three of them were rescued by the Liberian-registered vessel.

The three rescued crew members were later sent to hospital, but they are not in a life-threatening condition. JCG rescuers are searching for the remaining two in their 50s and 60s.

There are no reports of injuries to the crew of the Liberian-flagged ship.

The Izumi Maru, owned by Tokyo-based Izumikaiun Co., left Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, on Wednesday with scrap metal on board and was scheduled to arrive in Okayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Friday morning through the Seto Inland Sea.

JIJI Press