Fishing Boat Capsizes off Kashima Port, Ibaraki Pref.; 2 Dead, 3 Missing, JCG Vessels Searching for Missing Persons (UPDATE 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:23 JST, January 6, 2025

A fishing boat reported at around 2:10 a.m. Monday that a purse seine fishing boat appeared to have capsized in the sea about 30 kilometers east of Kashima Port in Ibaraki Prefecture.

According to the Choshi Fire Department in Chiba Prefecture and other authorities, 20 people were on board, and 17 were rescued and taken to the hospital, of which 2 were confirmed dead. Three are missing.

Four Japan Coast Guard patrol boats and other vessels are searching for the missing persons.

According to the Kashima Coast Guard Station, the capsized boat is the 80-ton Daihachi Ohama Maru belonging to the Otsu Fishing Cooperative, in Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture.

A rescued fisherman said, “While we were lifting nets, the boat gradually tilted because of the large number of fish caught in the net.”

Weather conditions at the time of the accident were clear, with a west wind of 2 meters and waves 0.5 meters high, and the fishing boat was believed to have been out fishing for sardines.