Kagoshima Prefecture News

Japan's defense ministry said on Sunday that a submarine believed to be from China was spotted in waters near its southern islands, as maritime tensions persist in the Pacific.Japan's navy on Friday morning identified a submerged vessel sailing northwest just outside territorial waters near Amami Oshima island, part of Kagoshima prefecture, the ministry said in a statement. A Chinese destroyer was also spotted in the vicinity.Tokyo has complained of numerous intrusions by Chinese vessels into its territorial waters and near disputed islands in recent years.

A third crewman from a cargo ship that capsized this week off the coast of Japan with more than 40 crew and some 6,000 cattle on board was found alive on Friday after he was spotted by a search plane, Japan's coastguard said.The man, 30-year-old Filipino Jay-nel Rosals, was found on a liferaft waving for help 2 km (1.2 miles) off Kodakarajima, a small island in Japan's southern Kagoshima prefecture, the coastguard said.He was conscious and was able to walk when the coast guard rescued him. Rescuers also found an overturned orange lifeboat floating at sea some 4 km off Kodakarajima, but no one was found on that boat.Rosals was only the third crew member to be found so far from the Gulf Livestock 1, which capsized in the East China Sea on Wednesday and is believed to have sunk.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that the newly built large-scale ferry Sunflower Kirishima operated by its group company Ferry Sunflower was launched on September 15, and with many passengers aboard, departed the Nanko Sunflower Terminal in Osaka Prefecture for the Port of Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture.The new Sunflower Kirishima has room for 20% more trucks compared to the old Sunflower Kirishima.With its sister ferry, the Sunflower Satsuma, which was launched on May 15, they will enhance their role in promoting a strong modal shift from long-distance transport by trucks to ocean transport by ferries driven by the need to reduce…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. announced that its group company Ferry Sunflower Limited is moving ahead with plans to construct two large-scale Ro-Pax (roll on/roll off passenger) ferries. The newbuilding ferries will be delivered in March and June of 2018 as replacements for the Sunflower Satsuma and Sunflower Kirishima, which serve on the route connecting Osaka Port (Osaka Prefecture) and Shibushi Port (Kagoshima Prefecture). The new ferries will feature private staterooms with toilets, showers, washbasins, and refrigerators, allowing passengers to enjoy their trips in greater comfort. Public space on the new ferries will also be about 2.5 times that of current ferries.

High-speed ferry 'Toppy' bound from Kagoshima to Yakushima Island may have hit whale, 5 passengers injured Five people were injured when a high-speed ship bound for Yakushima Island collided with an object thought to be a whale, the Japan Coast Guard said. The fast ferry, Toppy, which left the city of Kagoshima early Sunday with some 190 people on board, issued a distress call to the Japan Coast Guard at around 9 a.m. after hitting the object about 2 km off Cape Sata, in Kagoshima Prefecture, it said. Three crew members had to be airlifted to a hospital, while two passengers were slightly injured and many others complained of feeling sick, the coast guard said.

Japanese Coast Guard said it has received a message that a Hong Kong cargo ship with 17 crew members on board has not been in contact with owners while in waters off southern Japan. According to the report, the 4,143-ton freighter, NEW LUCKY VII, with 17 crew members including three Chinese sailors and 14 Indonesian sailors on board stopped regular communication with its owner company in waters about 100 kilometers west off the Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. The cargo ship was sailing from Papua New Guinea to China. The coast guard received a request for a search operation from Hong Kong authorities, despatching several patrol vessels and an airplane to search for the cargo ship.