2010-11-12 17:25

Ishigaki, Japan - A Japan Coast Guard (JCG) official confirmed Friday that the missing cargo ship with 25 Chinese crew aboard has sunk near Japan's southern Okinawa islands.

Yomemori, an official from the JCG 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, told Xinhua that based on the survivors' description and objects left over by the vessel, the 17,000-ton Panama-registered ship "Nasco Diamondo" has sunk.

To date five of the 25 Chinese crew on board have been found with three alive and two dead, and the other 20 remain missing. The three survivors were taken to two hospitals on the Ishigaki island late Thursday.

The JCG on Friday dispatched an aircraft as well as a patrol ship to the relevant waters to continue to search for survivors, Yomemori said. Aircraft from the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) and the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) also participated in the rescue and search operations.

The vessel last contacted its Chinese owner at around 7 pm Tuesday. Japan Coast Guard in Naha on Okinawa island received a message saying the ship went missing some 340 km south of Iriomote island early Wednesday.