Fishing Vessel Shouyo Maru No.7, with three crew members on board, departed from Yonabaru City, Tozoe Fishing Port, on February 5, 2023, for squid flag fishing. While on route to a fishing ground, the captain noticed a fire in the engine room after hearing a strange noise around 12:30 AM.

Despite the captain and crew’s efforts to extinguish the fire, the flames and smoke intensified, making it impossible to stay in the engine room. The captain decided to abandon ship and move into the life raft, activating two units of our ResQLink 400 PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons).

The Japan Coast Guard received the distress signals from these PLBs around 1:20 AM and immediately initiated rescue operations. Concurrently, the Japan Coast Guard requested assistance from nearby fishing boats.

One of these boats, F/V Himeka Maru, belonging to the Chinen Fisheries Cooperative in Okinawa Prefecture, located the life raft around 3:20 AM, and all three crew members were transferred to this vessel.

Later, F/V Chouyo Maru No.1, from the same fisheries cooperative as the distressed vessel, reached Himeka Maru around 7:00 AM, and the crew members were transferred to this vessel.

A patrol vessel from the Japan Coast Guard, P/V Isonami, met F/V Dai Chouyo Maru No.1, and the crew members were transferred to it around 11:00 AM. The vessel then arrived at Koniya Fishing Port in Amami Oshima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, around 2:00 PM. All three crew members were successfully rescued.

Unfortunately, the vessel that caught fire eventually sank.