(2nd LD) 16 sailors missing after cargo ship sinks in Japanese waters

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with more details in paras)
INCHEON, March 10 (Yonhap) -- Seven South Korean and nine Indonesian sailors went
missing Tuesday after their cargo ship collided with a larger freighter and sank
off the coast of Japan, South Korea's Coast Guard said.
The sailors aboard the 4,255-ton ship went missing after the ship collided with a
Panamanian-registered automobile carrier at around 2:15 a.m. approximately 11
kilometers east of Izu Oshima island, south of Tokyo, according to officials.
The 10,833-ton Panamanian ship was also sinking but all of the 11 sailors on
board were rescued by Japanese coast guard authorities, they said.
The South Korean-registered ship, named the "Orchid Pia," was carrying some 5,050
tons of steel coil from Japan to the southern South Korean port of Yeosu, 455
kilometers south of Seoul.
Japanese authorities have mobilized nine ships and four helicopters in the search
and rescue operation but have only discovered life vests and an emergency raft at
the site of the accident.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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