Australian coroner finds assailants killed 2 Filipino seamen

Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. (Google Maps)

CANBERRA, Australia—An Australian coroner says two Filipino seamen who died two weeks apart during a Japanese coal carrier’s voyage to Australia in 2012 had been killed by one or more assailants.

Coroner Sharon Freund recommended Wednesday that her report on the two deaths be sent to Japanese authorities who investigated a third death discovered when the same Panama-flagged carrier MV Sage Sagittarius returned to Japan.

The series of three tragedies over five weeks has led to the Sage Sagittarius being dubbed the “Death Ship” by the media.

The dead Filipinos were part of 25-member all-Filipino crew that left the Japanese port of Kudamatsu.

The third fatality was a supervisor employed by the ship’s Japanese operator who was found dead three days after the ship returned to Kudamatsu.