Sailor Missing in Japan Ship Collision

Fourteen other crew members from the Cyprus-registered Asia Concerto were rescued after it crashed off the coast of western Yamaguchi prefecture at 07:00 (AEST), a coastguard spokesman said." We are searching for a Filipino sailor who went missing in the accident," the spokesman said. The 4458-tonne ship collided with the 4314-tonne South Korean-registered Pine Pia, whose 15 crew had rescued the sailors from the sunken vessel, he said.The sea had been relatively calm at the time, he said. Asia Concerto was leaking oil and other fuel, and the coastguard would investigate the cause of the accident. The Japan Coast Guard dispatched nine vessels and one helicopter to search for the missing sailor between the main Japanese island of Honshu and the smaller island of Shikoku. Asia Concerto was carrying about 6000 tonnes of metal coils, Jiji Press reported.