Fishing boat bumps minesweeper

MATSUYAMA, Ehime Pref. (Kyodo) A fishing boat Thursday night bumped into Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel anchored off Iyo, Ehime Prefecture, the Japan Coast Guard said early Friday.

No one was injured in the 11:55 p.m. accident between the 510-ton MSDF minesweeper Miyajima and the Choei Maru, a 4.99-ton trawler.

According to the coast guard, the trawler's bow crashed into the bow of the Miyajima. However, both vessels can navigate on their own.

Forty crew members were aboard the Miyajima, whose home port is Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture. The Choei Maru, with two fishermen aboard, was on its way back after winding up the day's operations, the coast guard said.

On Tuesday, an MSDF destroyer collided with a South Korean containership in the Kammon Strait between Yamaguchi and Fukuoka prefectures and caught fire, leaving six crew members on the MSDF vessel slightly injured.