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This fishing boat was found capsized by the Japanese coastguard; marks appear to match damage on Israeli boat
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners October 2, 2005 |
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Japan's coast guard on Sunday recovered a Japanese fishing boat found capsized last week with seven of its crew dead, and said marks on it seemed to match damage found on an Israeli ship.
"We continue to suspect the Israeli ship was involved, but we need to wait for results of further investigations," said coast guard official Shozo Sano.
Israeli-registered vessel Zim Asia's captain has denied any involvement in the accident, telling South Korean authorities he didn't feel any collision.
But Korean officials examined the Zim Asia while it was docked in the South Korean port of Busan on Thursday and confirmed there was damage to the left hull of the ship, as well as traces of paint that appeared to be from another boat, Sano said.
Japan's coast guard, which will soon receive the paint samples from its Korean counterpart, will run tests to determine whether the material matches paint from the Japanese fishing boat, Sano said.
Seven crew members were killed and one was rescued when the No. 3 Shinseimaru overturned early Wednesday about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the cape of Nosappu in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island state.
Fishing radar showed a ship passed through the accident site early Wednesday and suddenly changed direction. Coast guard planes later sighted the Israeli container vessel in nearby waters.
Japan's Kyodo News agency reported a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official as saying the country's transport ministry is ready to start a full-fledged investigation if it confirms the Israeli ship's involvement.
Because the incident took place in high seas, neither Japan nor Korea have the authority to conduct investigations on ships other than their own.
The Israeli ship, about 40,000 tons, sailed across the Pacific Ocean from Seattle, United States, and passed through the waters off Nosappu before docking in Busan, according to Kyodo. The vessel set sail for Shanghai Saturday.
T he AP contributed to this report.
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