Three people remained missing as of Sunday evening after two Japanese cargo ships collided during the early morning hours off the coast of Chiba Prefecture, the Japan Coast Guard said.

The Japan-flagged cargo ships Sensho Maru and Sumiho Maru, both 499-ton vessels, collided about 12 km off Cape Inubosaki in Chiba Prefecture at around 2:10 a.m., and the Sensho Maru sank.

Hiraku Fujita, the captain of the Sensho Maru, was rescued, and one of the ship's crew members was later confirmed dead. But as of Sunday evening the other three were still missing, a local coast guard official said.

According to the 3rd Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Yokohama, a special rescue team discovered the sunken ship lying on the seabed with its starboard side facing up in about 30 meters of water.

The regional coast guard office in the port of Choshi said Akira Yano, 72, of Shizuoka Prefecture, was found inside the ship and was later confirmed dead.

Source: Kyodo