Two merchant ships collided with each other in waters off the western Japanese island of Shikoku late Wednesday, but no one was injured, local maritime officials said Thursday.

According to Japan's Coast Guard, the incident occurred at around 9:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday when a 50,686-ton Singapore container ship with 21 crew members from seven countries including South Africa and Britain collided with a 4594-ton Panama- registered cargo ship with 13 crew members, including one Chinese sailor, about 17 kilometers east off the coastline of Anan City, Tokushima Prefecture on the island.

A spokesperson at the 5th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Kobe City said to Xinhua that no one was injured in the incident, adding that the two vessels are able to sail normally after the collision.

He said that the Singapore-registered "Safmarine Makutu" was traveling from Osaka, western Japan to South Korea while the Panama flagged "Pices" was heading toward Toyohashi Port in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan from South Korea.

Teams from the regional coast guard headquarters have started thier investigation into details of the incident since Thursday morning.