News Tourist boat with 26 passengers missing in Hokkaido

[thomas]

A Japanese tourist boat with 26 passengers went missing early Saturday afternoon in eastern Hokkaido. The boat cruised near Shiretoko Peninsula and reported heavy seas.

The boat "KAZU I" reported to the coast guard it was taking on water around 1:15 p.m., and then told its operator that it was tilting 30 degrees around 3 p.m. before losing contact, the JCG said. Twenty-two adult passengers and two children were aboard the boat along with two crew members, according to the JCG. The coast guard, which dispatched a helicopter and patrol boats to the site near the peninsula, said it had not found the boat nor the people on board as of 9 p.m., adding that their fate remains unknown.

Tourist boat with 26 people missing off Hokkaido peninsula - The Mainichi

SAPPORO (Kyodo) -- A tourist boat with 26 crew and passengers including two children went missing in rough waters Saturday while sightseeing around th

mainichi.jp

Japan: Ten confirmed dead from missing tourist boat

The search continues in frigid waters off the Hokkaido island for 16 others who were on board.

www.bbc.com

I pray they'll be safe and sound. 😟

 

[thomas]

Sadly, the bodies of ten passengers were recovered today, Sunday, by the Japanese Coast Guard. With water temperatures of around 2-4°C, chances of survival for the other passengers are less than slim. Why the tourist boat left the harbour and embarked on a tour on a day when even local fishermen deemed the seas too risky remains a mystery.

10 confirmed dead after tour boat with 26 goes missing off Hokkaido - The Mainichi

SAPPORO (Kyodo) -- Ten people were confirmed dead Sunday after a tourist boat with a total of 26 passengers and crew aboard went missing in rough wate

mainichi.jp

 

[thomas]

Still, the biggest news in Japan: so far, only eleven bodies have been recovered by the Japan Coast Guard as of 24 April. A large object spotted by local fishing boats could not be confirmed as the sunken tourist boat. Japan liaised with Russia to avoid misunderstandings if the search was extended into territorial waters claimed by Russia. Meanwhile, the tour operator has come under criticism:

Editorial: Tour company bears heavy responsibility for deadly Hokkaido boat accident - The Mainichi

A sightseeing boat that was carrying 26 passengers and crew members, including two children, went missing in rough waters off the Shiretoko Peninsula

mainichi.jp

The captain of the Kazu 1 tour boat was advised to stay ashore on April 23 because of rough weather. But the boat left Utoro Port in Shari, Hokkaido, at 10 a.m. that day, carrying 26 passengers and crew. The Kazu 1 is believed to have sunk hours later, leaving at least 11 people dead and 15 missing. As the search continues for victims of the disaster off the Shiretoko Peninsula, questions are being raised about whether the captain or the tour boat operator, Shiretoko Pleasure Boat, had taken appropriate safety measures.

Captain of sunken tour boat ignored advice to stay ashore | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[thomas]

The press got what they wanted: in yesterday's meeting with the relatives of the victims and a 2.5-hour press conference, the president of the Hokkaido tour operator apologised five times dougeza style.

He admitted his fault, saying that the ship's captain made the decision to go ahead with the tour that morning and he agreed.

Shiretoko Yuransen and three other local boat tour companies had formed a Shiretoko-area tourist boat group that shared information on weather and sea conditions. The firms have assisted each other in emergencies and have taken similar safety measures, including canceling tours if conditions were deemed too dangerous. Among the group, Shiretoko Yuransen was the only one of the four that began tours before the Golden Week holidays, which normally signal the start of the season. When Kazu I cast off from Utoro port in Shari around 10 a.m. on Saturday, conditions in the Sea of Okhotsk were already deteriorating and many fishing boats chose to remain in port. Warnings of gale-force winds and high waves were issued around that time. Toyoda, 54, was told by acquaintances to either call off the tour or be extra careful. Toyoda acknowledged the concerns but the boat tour went ahead.

In emotional news conference, tour boat operator apologizes for Hokkaido tragedy

The cause of the accident remains unclear, but investigators plan to build a criminal case against the boat's operator.

www.japantimes.co.jp

Operator of missing Hokkaido boat apologizes for 'wrong judgment' - The Mainichi

SHARI, Hokkaido (Kyodo) -- The operator of a tour boat that disappeared off Hokkaido last weekend with 26 people aboard publicly apologized Wednesday

mainichi.jp

 

[mdchachi]

The TV said most of the captain's work career was as a truck driver. So it seems he was not as experienced as one would expect.

 

[Uncle Frank]

I still remember a Navy lecture when I first got to japan. They said if we accidentally kill a Japanese citizen . we had to apologize to the family and give them a bottle of American whiskey and 2 cartons of American cigarettes. It made life seem pretty cheap.

 

[thomas]

With new details of the tour operator, Shiretoko Yuransen, being reported daily, a disturbing picture of professional negligence emerges: the president repeatedly forced captains to depart despite high waves and became angry when captains working for the company cancelled tours or were hesitant to sail, citing safety reasons, even before the fatal incident. A captain at another tourist boat operator in the area said the missing boat's skipper, Noriyuki Toyoda, often complained about the president's coercive attitude.

In Tokyo, transport minister Tetsuo Saito responded to the president's remarks at the press 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.

Hokkaido tour boat boss forced captains to sail despite high waves, sources say

Under company rules, tours must be canceled when waves are likely to reach a height of 1 meter, sources said. A weather warning for waves over 3 meters was issued before Kazu I's departure.

www.japantimes.co.jp

I wonder how many tour boat companies across Japan operate under similar conditions.

 

[thomas]

Yesterday, the JCG located the wreck of the "Kazu I" at a depth of 120 metres. The location was near the scenic Kashuni Falls on the western side of the peninsula near the spot where the Kazu I had made a distress call. Three more bodies were found, while the Russians reported another body drifting in the sea that could not be recovered due to bad weather. All of them were wearing life jackets.

It is not clear yet whether the wreck will be salvaged.

Kazu I tour boat found on seabed; 3 more bodies recovered | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[thomas]

A little update on the Kazu I: yesterday morning, preparations for the salvage operation of the 19-ton tourist boat started. Twelve passengers are still missing, with two bodies and a Japanese driving license found on Kunashiri Island by Russian authorities.

Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move, the Ministry of Transport has started procedures to revoke the license of the tour operator.

Among safety measures that Shiretoko Pleasure Boat was found to have flouted are a general rule to cancel any departure from port if there is any prospect of waves reaching heights of at least 1 meter. Officials also cited the obligation of the company president, as supervisor of operations, to be in the office when a boat is out at sea and a requirement that the ship captain maintain regular contact with the office. The company's radio antenna was broken at the time and the Kazu I was not equipped with a satellite phone because it had also malfunctioned. The skipper embarked on the trip relying on a mobile phone to stay in contact with the shore but was out of range most of the time during what was supposed to have been an outing lasting no more than three hours.

Ministry to revoke approval of Hokkaido tour boat operator | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

Salvage of Hokkaido tour boat starts with 12 people still missing

The raising of the 19-ton Kazu I, which currently sits on the seabed some 120 meters below the surface, will take place early next week.

www.japantimes.co.jp

 

[mdchachi]

What the owner did was truly egregious. Too bad they can't punish him more severely.

 

[thomas]

They finally managed to salvage the Kazu I after a failed attempt two days ago.

カズワン船体、海面までつり上げ　落下した182メートル海底から | 毎日新聞

　北海道・知床半島沖で観光船「KAZU　Ⅰ（カズワン）」が沈没した事故で、第1管区海上保安本部は26日、えい航中に落下した船体を引き揚げる作業を再開した。船体は海面上まで浮上し、同日午後7時過ぎに作業船への横付けが完了した。網走港（北海道網走市）に陸揚げ後、1管が原因究明に向けて船体を本格的に調べる

mainichi.jp

カズワン、再度のつり上げで海面まで浮上　水抜いて台船に引き揚げへ：朝日新聞デジタル

　北海道・知床半島沖で乗客・乗員計26人が乗った観光船「KAZUⅠ（カズワン）」が沈没した事故で26日、移動中に海底に落下した船体が再びつり上げられた。船体は事故後初めて、海面まで浮上。今後は水深の浅…

www.asahi.com

 

[thomas]

The bodies of three victims found in southern Sakhalin and Kunashiri Island returned to Japan yesterday. The remains of eight victims are still missing.

The bodies, discovered between May and June, were handed over to the Japan Coast Guard by Russian authorities the previous day following DNA tests conducted in Russia. The tests based on data sent from Japan showed the bodies were those of two of the passengers and a crew member of the sightseeing boat Kazu I, which sank in bad weather on April 23 leaving 15 dead and 11 missing. The Hokkaido police will release the bodies to the victims' families after conducting further DNA tests, officials said.

3 bodies found in Russia after Hokkaido boat tragedy arrive in Japan - The Mainichi

SAPPORO (Kyodo) -- Three bodies recovered by Russia that are believed to be those of people missing from a tourist boat that sank off Hokkaido in Apri

mainichi.jp

 

[thomas]

Asahi Shinbun reported that according to "sources", seawater likely entered an open hatch on the Kazu I pleasure boat and spread through unsealed holes below deck, leading to the vessel's sinking off Hokkaido in April.

Photo credit: Asahi Shinbun​

The Japan Transport Safety Board has been studying the boat, salvaged off the Shiretoko Peninsula, to determine the cause of the accident. The board believes that seawater breached the hatch on the deck and seeped through holes in the walls below deck, the sources said on Dec. 8. The entire bottom area was flooded, including the engine room, the sources said. The board is expected to release the investigation results soon. According to the sources, the hatch lid was supposed to have been sealed with braces on the corners. But the study of the boat revealed problems with the braces that had left the hatch loose. The bulkhead, which partitioned off the cargo hold of the boat, also separated the engine room and the steering gear room. The sources said that holes in walls located in the front and back of the engine room were covered, but they apparently lacked the strength to keep the area sealed off from possible leaks.

Water likely entered loose hatch on Kazu I pleasure boat | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[Petaris]

Interesting but I have a hard time believing that the bilge pumps wouldn't have been able to keep the engine room and "steering gear" room from flooding even if there was some leaking. Especially with a non-direct flooding route. What I could see happening is it rolling once enough water made it into the cargo hold. I'm guessing by "hole" they mean access hatch. Still, from the diagram it looks like the hatch between the two cargo holds was open, which should not have been the case.

 

[thomas]

I'm no "shellback" at all, but I would guess that the Kazu I, a pleasure boat for coastal operations, wasn't made for the rough seas they encountered on the day they sank. They weren't supposed to leave port in the first place and should have turned around when the elements turned nasty. Two hours of heavy swell, an unsealed bow hatch and open cargo hatches could have been enough to make her capsize.

 

[thomas]

Yesterday, the official report was released.

Waves near Cape Shiretoko were estimated at more than 1 meter high, but they reached in excess of 2 meters high near Kashuni Falls, according to the report. The report noted the Kazu I was built only for voyages in gentler seas. "Moving ahead would become extremely difficult for this vessel in waves of more than 1 meter," said a board official who was involved in the investigation. "If the crew had been able to think more calmly, they would have known the waves would get higher and higher if they tried to return to the original port. "The crew should have gone to a harbor of refuge near Cape Shiretoko to take shelter." The report said an attachment that fastens the cover to the hatch was worn out. As a result, the hatch was "presumably not tightly closed."

It's heartbreaking to read the last phone call received from the boat.

The report disclosed records of a mobile phone conversation between a passenger and a relative between 1:21 p.m. and 1:26 p.m. It was the last communication from the boat that investigators could confirm. "The boat is taking on water, and it is now up to my feet," the passenger said in the call. "It's impossible to swim in this water; it's way too cold. I can't jump into (the sea), either."

Report on Kazu I disaster cites errors by crew, faulty hatch | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis