One crew member went missing after a Taiwanese fishing boat caught fire in the Pacific Ocean off Japan on Wednesday, the Japan Coast Guard said.
The boat, named Chin Chun, had 53 people aboard when the fire broke out at some 510 km east of Miyako, Iwate Prefecture. A fisherman of Indonesian nationality went missing after falling overboard.
The Japanese Coast Guard received a call for help from the boat at around 9:10 a.m. local time Wednesday (0010 GMT).
According to Kyodo news agency, initial information indicated that the boat had collided with another vessel, but an aerial survey from a coast guard plane proved it to be not the case.
