OSAKA - Japanese Coast Guard said it received a message Thursday that a Hong Kong cargo ship with 17 crew members on board has lost contact in waters off southern Japan since Tuesday, Japan's public broadcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) reported.

According to the report, the 4,143-ton freighter, NEW LUCKY VII, with 17 crew members including three Chinese sailors and 14 Indonesian sailors on board stopped regular communication with its owner company two days ago in waters about 100 kilometers west off the Amami Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. The cargo ship was sailing from Papua New Guinea to China.

The coast guard received a request for search operation from Hong Kong authorities ?at around 2 am local time on Thursday, it dispatched several patrol vessels and an airplane to search for the cargo ship.

The weather condition in the sea areas was severe as a low pressure system developed very strongly during the past two days, the report said.