OSAKA - Nine fishermen who were on board a boat which sank off the coast of southern Japan have been rescued on Thursday morning, local press reported.

The 29-ton catcher with nine fishermen on board stopped regular communication with its owner by early Thursday in waters about 490 kilometers west off the Amami Oshima Island in the southern Japanese prefecture of Kagoshima, according to the daily Asahi Shimbun.

After receiving a request for rescue operation at around 3:30 am local time from the maritime authorities in South Korea, the Japanese Coast Guard dispatched several patrol vessels to search for the boat.

The report cited the coast guard as saying that patrolling teams found the fishing boat around the sea area by 11 am while confirming that the crew members were all rescued from their sinking boat by another South Korean fishing boat nearby.