Aircraft from Kadena Air Base in Japan and the U.S. Coast Guard in Hawaii have been called in to search for a man thought to have fallen overboard from a Japanese fishing ship southwest of Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia.
The Yokohama Rescue Coordination Center notified U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam on Tuesday that the 34-year-old man had been last seen on the Wakaba Maru 7 just past midnight Monday, according to a news statement from the Guam Coast Guard.
The man is a citizen of Micronesia. It was unknown whether he was wearing a life preserver.
Other fishing vessels and a support helicopter conducted searches immediately after he was discovered missing.
The Guam Coast Guard is now coordinating the search, currently being conducted by a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft from Kadena and two sister fishing vessels.
A Coast Guard C-130 plane traveling from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii is expected to arrive at the search area Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. local time, after flying about 3,600 miles.
Micronesia is located about 500 miles southeast of Guam.
The sea is relatively calm in the search area, with 10 mph winds and 5-foot waves.