Missing tour boat found on seabed off Hokkaido
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Loading... - Kaito Daigo
- 29 Apr 2022
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A tourist boat that went missing six days ago with 26 people aboard was found on the seabed off Hokkaido on Friday, the Japan Coast Guard said.
The name “Kazu I” was confirmed on the hull of the boat, it said. So far the bodies of 14 people have been found since contact with the 19-ton boat was lost on April 23 during a tour around the Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula.
On Thursday, news emerged that the president of the tour boat’s operator had repeatedly forced vessel captains to depart despite high waves, sources with knowledge of the company’s business said.
While the exact cause of the fatal accident remains unclear, the bodies of three males wearing life vests were found the same day in waters off the east side of the Shiretoko Peninsula, roughly opposite where the 19-ton Kazu I issued its first rescue call, according to the coast guard.
The sources said the operator, Shiretoko Yuransen, based in the town of Shari, has been known for frequently going ahead with sightseeing tours despite the chance of bad weather.
During a news conference Wednesday, Seiichi Katsurada, the operator’s president, admitted that his decision to allow the boat to depart on the condition that its captain would turn back if the seas got rough was “wrong.”
The sources said Katsurada became angry when captains working for the company canceled tours or were hesitant to sail, citing safety reasons, even before the fatal incident.
In Tokyo on Thursday, transport minister Tetsuo Saito responded to the president’s remarks at the news conference, saying, “It’s impossible to have such a condition (for operating a boat).”
“I believe (Katsurada) lacked a sense of ownership and responsibility,” Saito said, criticizing the president’s inadequate response to the families of the passengers.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has set up a special team to investigate the company’s tour operations, including whether there were deficiencies.
The coast guard is investigating the incident with the possibility of building a case against the operator on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and endangering traffic.
Under Shiretoko Yuransen’s rules, it has to cancel tours when the wind speed is expected to exceed 28.8 kilometers per hour, and waves are likely to reach a height of 1 meter, the sources said.
A weather warning for waves over 3 meters was issued in Shari 20 minutes before Kazu I’s departure at 10 a.m. on the day of the accident.
A captain at another tourist boat operator in the area said the missing boat’s skipper, Noriyuki Toyoda, was often complaining about the president’s coercive attitude.
“I have to go because I was told to,” the captain quoted Toyoda as saying.
Search operations involving aircraft and vessels was continuing for the 12 people still missing.
Kazu I went missing Saturday after leaving port in Shari at 10 a.m. despite a high wave warning to cruise along the peninsula, designated a World Natural Heritage site in 2005 and home to many rare species of animals and plants. Read More...
