A Taiwanese fishing boat reportedly capsized off the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands on Sunday, leaving one crew member dead and six others missing, according to Japanese authorities.
Japan’s navy patrol spotted the “Hsin Chang Fa No. 88” vessel capsizing and drifting north of the disputed islands—also known by China as the Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan as the Diaoyutai Islands—reportedly carying one Taiwanese and six Indonesians.
One body was found inside the fishing boat on Monday, and search efforts for the remaining six crew members are underway, according to Japanese coast guard’s spokesperson Masaya Tokita.
According to Taiwanese authorities, the Hsin Chang Fa No. 88 boat departed northern Taiwan’s Keelung fishing port at around 11 p.m. (local time) on Feb. 27.
The Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea have mostly been administered by Japan since 1895, but Beijing began asserting its rights over the islands in the 1970s. Taiwan also has claims on the Senkakus.
The incident occurred as another Taiwanese fishing boat went missing last week. Taiwan has asked the Philippines and the United States for assistance in the search for the Sheng Feng No. 128 boat, which was last seen on Feb. 17 off the coast of Palau in the western Pacific. The boat was carrying one Taiwanese and five Indonesian fishermen.
U.S. Coast Guard aircraft have helped carry out a search, along with other Taiwanese fishing vessels for the Sheng Feng No. 128 boat. The Philippine coast guard deployed a Cessna plane and ordered five regional commands to launch a search off the country’s eastern coast where the missing fishing vessel may have drifted from the Pacific.
