TOKYO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Japan Coast Guard said on Wednesday they retrieved the dead body of a man from inside a capsized Japanese fishing boat that overturned in rough seas off Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, as the search continues for seven other crew members yet to be accounted for.
The coast guard said the 29-ton Keiei Maru No. 65 saury boat lost radar contact with operators on Tuesday morning when the vessel was about 640 km east of the Nemuro tip of Hokkaido.
An empty life raft with the capacity to hold 15 people was also found near the capsized vessel, the coast guard said.
According to a local fisheries cooperative, the boat's crew had signaled to another vessel by satellite phone that it had been hit by a wave, although prior to losing contact with operators, 52-year-old captain Toshihiro Keirei had not issued a distress signal.
The fisheries cooperative said that saury boats were having to sail further distances into rougher seas to follow the schools of fish and in light of record batches of the fish being caught this year.
Accident investigators, meanwhile, have been sent to the region by Japan's Transport Safety Board and a Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) plane was scouring the area in search of the seven missing fisherman until Wednesday morning.
The search for the missing crewmen, who are aged between 43 and 74 years old, is being continued by air and sea by the coast guard here.
