Nine seamen missing after ships collide off Japan

TOKYO - Rescuers launched a search for nine missing Chinese seamen on Friday after two ships collided off the Japanese coast near Tokyo, causing one of them to sink.

A Malta-registered cargo vessel sank after colliding with a Japanese freighter off the coast of Chiba, east of Tokyo, at 5:10am, a coast guard spokesman said.

The collision occurred 10km off the coast. A fog warning was in place at the time, public broadcaster NHK said.

The incident comes a week after two ships collided off western Japan, killing six crew members.

- REUTERS