Japan Coast Guard's ship is set to rescue the crews of the N. Korean fishing boat. (Image via Al Jazeera)

N. Korea fishing boat collides with Japan's water patrol

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Scandal
Investigations
Oct 07, 2019
7516
Japanese Fisheries Agency stated that a collision happened on Monday morning between its sea patrol boat and a fishing boat in the Yamatotai waters, 350km off Japan’s north-western coast of the Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Prefecture. The fishing boat came from N. Korea.

Due to the collision, the fishing boat was waterlogged and its 20 crews had to abandon the ship. The Agency stated that 10 of the adrift crews had been rescued. The Japan Coast Guard also had to dispatch its ships and aircraft to assist the rescue operation.

The condition of the N. Korean fishing boat had to be further assessed to know the damage. Meanwhile, the sea patrol boat did not show any significant damage. The latest report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries stated that the waterlogged boat might have sunk.

Due to N. Korea’s campaign to boost fish harvest that caused the number of its fish poachers to increase, Japan had to increase its patrol in its waters to prevent illegal fishing. The collision happened within Japan’s economic exclusive zone.

In June, Japan’s patrol boat had to expel 300 N. Korean fishing boats from the same waters. And, in August, an armed fishing boat from N. Korea once threatened the Japanese patrol boat.

Source: https://reut.rs/2oVwFwS

Scandal , Investigation , Politics , Fisheries , Asia , Japan , N.Korea