Taiwanese fishing trawler Chin Chun caught fire in North Pacific on 280 nautical miles east off Miyako, Japan. The Japan Coast Guard received distress signal from the fishing vessel with 52 Indonesian crew on board. At the scene of the accident was dispatched rescue aircraft, which tracked the position of the ship and analyzed her condition. Also two rescue boats with firefighting equipment were sent to the scene of the burning vessel, which should evacuate all the people on board. According to preliminary information one of the crew fell overboard and went missing, but there is no available information for the condition of the other crew.

The information from the local authorities reveals that the fire started after collision of the fishing ship Chin Chun with unidentified cargo vessel. The accident happened on 280 nautical miles off Honshu island, but circumstances were not disclosed. The local authorities will follow an investigation for the root cause of the collision. Rescue operation is under way.

The fishing trawler Chin Chun has overall length of 49.00 m, moulded beam of 8.00 m and maximum draft of 4.50 m. The gross tonnage of the vessel is 598 GRT.