A commercial ferry hit an unidentified object, possibly a whale in waters of southern Japan on Sunday evening, injuring 49 passengers, Kyodo News said.

Thirteen of the 109 on board of the Toppy-4 ferry were seriously injured. The vessel was heading from Yaku Island, Kagoshima prefecture to the city of Kagoshima when the incident happened 3 kilometers west of Cape Sata at around 6:05 p.m. local time (0905 GMT), a local coast guard said.

The high-speed ferry departed Yaku Island on 5:20 p.m. local time (0820 GMT) as scheduled, ferry operator said.

A crew member was quoted as saying that the ferry "collided with a whale-like marine animal."

Collisions between ferries and whale-like marine animals were reported near Tsushima Island earlier this year.

Source: Xinhua