The crew of the Japanese navy's 275-foot 'Soryu' submarine suffered minor injuries, while the submarine suffered damage to its mast, Japanese defence officials said on Monday.
The Soryu was in the process of surfacing about 27 nautical miles south of Cape Ashizuri on Japan's south-western island of Shikoku when it collided with the commercial ship, the Maritime Self-Defence Force said.
An investigation into the crash has been launched by multiple agencies, including the Japanese Navy who are trying to establish how the crash occurred.
It is currently unclear why the submarine did not detect the commercial ship's presence before it surfaced using sonar technology.
The navy did not identify the commercial ship, but NHK public television said it was the Hong Kong-registered bulk carrier Ocean Artemis.
It was transporting 90,000 tons of iron to Okayama in western Japan after leaving the Chinese port of Qingdao last Friday with 21 Chinese crew members, it said.
Defence minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters that the collision, that occurred at around 11am on Monday, was 'extremely regrettable'.
'Soryu scraped the hull of the vessel as it was surfacing,' Kishi said. 'It is extremely regrettable the MSDF submarine has collided with a commercial ship.'
He said the submarine, which carries a crew of around 65 people, temporarily lost communication signals due to the damage to its antenna mast.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga instructed authorities to confirm whether the vessel was safe, and to provide rescue if necessary.
'We will take every possible step,' he told senior members of his party on Monday, according to Nikkei Asia.
The commercial ship left the scene but later told Japanese coastguard officials that it sustained no damage and its crew did not even feel the impact, Mr Kishi said.
He said an investigation is under way, with the Japan Coast Guard and Japan Transport Safety Board both saying on Tuesday that they have also launched an investigation into the crash.
RAND Corp analyst and former US Navy captain, who analysed the image of the damage, told that the impact would have limited the submarine's capabilities.
'I wouldn't call the damage "minor." The submarine can't dive and can't communicate,' Martin said in an email to the news network.
Music: Koto San - Ofshane
Source: Daily Mail, Twitter, Pexels
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