Inquiries start into disappearance of Japan tourist boat, with at least 11 dead

TOKYO, April 25 (BNA) Investigations into the causes of the disappearance of a Japanese tourist boat began off the country’s northern coast, with search efforts intensified Monday to find the missing boat and its passengers, with the confirmed death toll rising to 11.

So far, nothing has been found on the Kazuo 1, which left port on Saturday on a cruise in the northern Shiretoko peninsula, carrying 24 passengers, including two children and two crew. Only a few of the orange flotation devices that bear their name have been discovered close to a rocky area along the rugged coast.

Reuters reported that a child was among the dead.

Searches resumed on Monday with aircraft and patrol boats, and media said local fishing boats from the port of Otoro were also mobilized. The researchers also walked down steep inclines along the shoreline.

The Ministry of Transportation sent officials to the site on Sunday to coordinate operations, and Transportation Minister Tetsuo Saito also visited, calling for all possible measures to be taken to identify what went wrong and prevent its recurrence.

“Our duty is to find out exactly what happened,” a Transportation Department investigator told reporters at the scene on Monday.

According to media reports, the waves were heavy in the area on Saturday and the fishing boats that had left early in the morning quickly returned to the port due to sea conditions.

Kyodo news agency said Kazuo 1 was the first tourist boat operating in the area this season. It added that the same ship collided with a floating object in May 2021, injuring three people, and ran aground in shallow water shortly after leaving port in June.

The Coast Guard said it will be difficult to determine exactly what happened to the ship until more evidence or wreckage is found, but so far there are no hints of its whereabouts. The boat company could not be reached for comment.

The boat went missing on Saturday, several hours after leaving for a tour of the Shiretoko Peninsula, famous for its rugged coastal scenery and wildlife. Local media reported that the boat operator called to report that it was sinking in the water and tied it at a 30-degree angle, shortly before losing contact.

Questions were raised about why the rescuers arrived several hours after the boat’s first distress call, but Deputy Prime Minister Yoshihiko Isozaki said the closest military aircraft was 150 kilometers away and was patrolling at the time.

Isozaki added that sea and weather conditions mean coastguard ships are taking longer than usual to arrive.

Local officials said drifting ice can be seen in the area’s waters until late March, and water temperatures will now be between 2 and 3 degrees Celsius (36-37 Fahrenheit).

“Just a few minutes in this kind of water will start to make you faint,” a local fisheries official said.

FKN