12 dead after Chinese boat, Hong Kong tanker collide

The Japanese coastguard said Friday it had discovered a dozen bodies inside a Chinese fishing boat that had capsized after a collision with a Hong Kong oil tanker off Japan's western coast the previous day.

"Our divers found all the bodies of the missing 12 crew members inside the ship," a coastguard official told AFP.

Thursday's collision occurred 400 kilometers north of the Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

The Chinese vessel, the 290-ton "Lurong Yuanyu 378," had 16 crew members in total. Four had already been rescued.

The Hong Kong-flagged ship was identified as "Brightoil Lucky", a 63,294-ton tanker carrying 21 crew members.

The tanker's crew were believed to be safe.

Japan had deployed three patrol boats to search for the missing crew, after responding to a plea for help from their Chinese counterparts.

SS