Japanese military vessel collides with fishing boat

Japan's Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced Wednesday that one if its transport vessels had been involved in a collision with a fishing boat.

According to preliminary local media reports, the collision between the two vessels took place in the Seto Inland Sea off Otake in Hiroshima Prefecture, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

A defense ministry official said that the fishing vessel sank as a result of the collision with the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) "Osumi" vessel at around 8 a.m. local time, leaving two of its crew in a critical condition, while another two remain stable, according to the official.

Government officials separately confirmed that emergency procedures are currently being taken to investigate the collision and a special management office has been rapidly scrambled to deal with the matter.

"As the supervisor (of the MSDF), I find it highly regrettable that such an accident occurred. We will cooperate fully with the coast guard investigation," Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera was quoted as saying at a press conference.

In June 2013, the Tokyo High Court acquitted two MSDF sailors over a 2008 collision between an Aegis-equipped destroyer and a fishing boat that killed two fishermen in waters just off Tokyo Bay.

In 1988, a MSDF submarine collided with a cruise ship off Yokosuka and left 30 dead.