Japan minesweeper sunk by fire

The Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (MSDF) minesweeper Ukushima has sunk after experiencing a persistent engine fire, according to reports from officials from the 7th Regional Coast Guard. The Coast Guard received a call from the vessel around 9:40am Sunday local time (0040 GMT).

The Ukushima, which left a base in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on a routine training mission on Sunday, was conducting a drill en route to Kagoshima Prefecture and was sailing some 2.5km off Oshima Island when the call was made.

Another MSDF minesweeper, Toyoshima, joined the Coast Guard in a firefighting and rescue operation, and reported around 2pm local time that the blaze had been contained. A subsequent flare-up or re-ignition, however, kept the vessel under ongoing threat.

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By 8pm local time, Admiral Akira Saito told press that firefighting efforts were ongoing and that all but one of the Ukushima’s 40 crewmembers had been evacuated to another vessel.

The missing crewmember, identified as 33-year-old petty officer 3rd class Tatsunori Koga, remains unaccounted for, despite searches with divers. Koga was one of two crewman on duty in the engine room when the fire began.

Just after midnight local time the vessel was reported capsized, extinguishing the fire. It was subsequently described as being sunk when just the bow remained visible above the surface.

Admiral Saito confirmed that the MSDF had never previously had a warship sunk due to fire. He also said a board of inquiry would be set up to investigate the cause of the fire.

The Ukushima was one of 12 Sugashima-class minesweepers ordered by Japan in the 1990s–2000s for shallow-water minesweeping operations. The wooden-hulled vessels were designed to have a reduced magnetic signature, to minimise risk while conducting minesweeping operations.

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