Japan warship, China fishing boat collide in East China Sea

TOKYO – A Japanese destroyer collided with a Chinese fishing boat in the East China Sea on Monday but no one was injured, the Defence Ministry said.

The collision caused a hole in the destroyer Shimakaze above its waterline, but it was still able to move on its own, the ministry said.

The cause of the collision and other details including the ships’ movements before the accident are under investigation, the ministry said.

The site of the accident, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) west of the Japanese island of Yakushima, is far to the north of an area disputed between the two countries, it said.

Japan and China have disputes over Japanese controlled-islands that China also claims. The uninhabited islets are called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese.