A Japanese submarine and a commercial vessel collided off the Pacific coast on February 8. Due to the accident, three of the submarine’s crew suffered minor injuries, while the submarine was slightly damaged but still able to sail.
As Reuters reports, the submarine, operated by Japan’s navy, and the ship crashed off Kochi prefecture in southern Japan. The submarine had temporarily lost communication signals due to the damage to its antenna mast, but the private ship did not report any damages.
The submarine Soryu was in the process of surfacing about 27 nautical miles (50 kilometers) south of Cape Ashizuri on Japan’s southwestern island of Shikoku when it collided with the commercial ship.
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The navy did not identify the commercial ship, but local media informed that it was the Hong Kong-registered bulk carrier Ocean Artemis. It was transporting 90,000 tons of iron to Okayama in western Japan after leaving the Chinese port of Qingdao last Friday with 21 Chinese crewmembers.
Currently, authorities are looking into details, such as the type of the ship and in which country it was registered.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force said three crew members on the submarine suffered minor injuries and the vessel’s mast was damaged but not enough to hinder its ability to sail.
