An Israeli-registered ship is suspected of hitting a Japanese fishing boat that capsized earlier this week, killing seven crew members, the Japanese Coast Guard said Saturday. Japan, which investigated the whereabouts of several ships seen in the area, was told Friday by South Korean authorities that an Israeli ship showing signs of a collision had docked in the southern South Korean port of Busan, coast guard spokesman Osamu Kon said. Korean authorities, acting on a request from the Japanese coast guard, confirmed there was damage on the hulk of the ship, Kon said. He was not able to confirm reports by Kyodo News agency that the ship had now set sail from Busan. Seven crew members were killed and one was rescued when the No. 3 Shinseimaru overturned about 40 kilometers (25 miles) off the cape of Nosappu in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island state, between 1:30 a.m. and 3 a.m. Wednesday. Fishing radars showed a ship passed through the accident site also early Wednesday, and suddenly changed direction, according to Kon. Coast guard planes later cited the Israeli container vessel in nearby waters. "We are acting on suspicions that the Israeli ship was involved, but we've reached no definite conclusions yet," said Kon, adding that Japanese investigations were continuing. But another spokesman for the coast guard, Hirofumi Matsuse, said that because the incident took place in high seas, Japan does not have the authority to conduct investigations on ships other than Japanese vessels, according to a report of The Associated Press.
