A Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship sank in the East China Sea near Japan’s uninhabited Danjo Islands (Nagasaki Prefecture), NHK television reported, citing the Japan Coast Guard.
There were 22 people on board, citizens of China and Myanmar.
Kyodo wrote that four people were rescued.
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the rescuers found only two crew members, whereas the others are considered missing.
The distress signal was received on Tuesday, around 11pm local time. The crew reported that the ship had tilted and begun to sink.
The cargo ship Jin Tian was transporting timber. It went under water 148 kilometers southeast of the Seogwipo city Jeju island.
Two rescue teams—the South Korean coast guard and their Japanese counterparts—are searching for the ship crew.
There is view that the ship crew have managed to board rescue boats. But the location of these boats is unknown, and they are being searched for.
