Cambodian ship sinks

Japanese Coast Guard yesterday rescued 10 crew members, including two Bangladeshis, of a Cambodian cargo vessel after it sank off the northern Japan coast killing three people.

Of the three dead, two were Chinese and the other one was of Myanmar, reported AFP. The three died after they had been taken to hospital.

The seven survivors, including the Bangladeshis, were in a stable condition.

They were rescued from the chilly waters of the strait separating Japan's Honshu and northernmost Hokkaido islands. The crew had to abandon ship after the vessel started listing and sank.

The captain of the ship was reported to be Bangladeshi but it could not be confirmed immediately.

Contacted, Mohammed Nore-Alam, counsellor at Bangladesh embassy in Tokyo, said they had not received any information about the accident.

“We will see to it after talking to the Japanese officials,” he told The Daily Star over the phone last night.

The 1,915 tonne Ming Guang was carrying scrap metal from the northern Japanese port of Hakodate to South Korea when it sprang a leak late Thursday.

The Japan Coast Guard received an emergency call from the captain around 11:40pm Thursday (local time), according to Jiji Press of Tokyo.

The captain then reported the ship was listing off Aomori prefecture. The freighter listed further and finally sank around 6:05am Friday, according to the coast guard.

The 10 crew members were drifting in the sea, wearing life jackets, when rescuers arrived at the scene, the report said.