ASSOCIATED PRESS
The body of an Indonesian crewman was carried off the Japanese fishing vessel Ebisu-Maru 31 after it docked at Honolulu Harbor yesterday. Japanese Coast Guard officials are investigating the stabbing death of the crewman, which occurred July 13, when the vessel was 2,500 miles southeast of Hawaii.
Japanese officials
investigate stabbing at seaAn Indonesian crew member
is a suspect on a boat that has
put in at Pearl Harbor
Japanese Coast Guard officials boarded the Japanese fishing vessel Ebisu-Maru 31 after it docked at Honolulu Harbor yesterday to investigate the stabbing death of an Indonesian crewman.
Another Indonesian crewman is a suspect in the slaying that occurred July 13 when the 200-foot vessel was 2,500 miles southeast of Hawaii, said a spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard, which is assisting officials from its Japanese counterpart.
Details of the stabbing were not disclosed, and the names of the victim and suspect were not immediately released.
Japan is exercising its right to criminal jurisdiction over the case under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, said Chief Petty Officer Tyler Johnson.
The Ebisu-Maru 31 put in at Honolulu because it was the closest port, Johnson said.
The captain and top officers of the vessel are Japanese, and the deck hands are Indonesian, according to Johnson.
Because the suspect will be in the custody of Japanese authorities, there will be no extradition proceedings, he said.
The Associated Press and Star-Bulletin reporter Michelle Mueller contributed to this report.
