Rescuers searching since a tour boat carrying 26 people sank off far northeastern Japan have found the body of an 11th victim — a child — as questions intensify about why the vessel sailed in rough weather in a known hazardous location.
The child was found late on Sunday and later confirmed dead, the Japan Coast Guard said yesterday.
The bodies of 10 victims — seven men and three women — were found earlier on Sunday.
Photo: AP
The Kazu 1, with two crew members, was taking 24 passengers, including two children, on a scenic tour at Shiretoko National Park on the northern side of Hokkaido Prefecture, when it sent a distress call on Saturday afternoon saying that it was sinking.
The location was near Kashuni Waterfall, which is known as a difficult place to maneuver boats because of its rocky coastline and strong tide.
The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism is investigating the boat’s operator, Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise, which had two accidents last year, including one that also involved the captain of the sunken boat.
Photo: Kyodo / via Reuters
The ministry said it was looking into safety standards and the decision to conduct the tour despite rough weather on Saturday.
The coast guard was considering a criminal investigation on suspicion of professional negligence, Japanese media reported.
Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise had been instructed to improve its safety following the earlier accidents. In June last year, a boat ran aground without causing injuries, and in May, a boat collided with an object, resulting in minor injuries among three passengers. The June accident involved the same captain of the sunken boat.
“We will thoroughly investigate what caused this situation and what kind of safety oversight was involved to allow the tour in order to prevent another accident,” said Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito, who visited the area on Sunday.
Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise says its three-hour tour offers views of the western coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula and a chance to see whales, dolphins and brown bears. The national park is a UNESCO World Heritage site known as the southernmost region to see drifting sea ice.
Average April sea temperatures in the area are just above freezing. Experts say the low temperature and strong wind make the chances of survival low.
The bodies recovered Sunday were found in the same area near the tip of the peninsula, about 14km north from where the boat sent a distress call. Some were plucked from the sea, and others were found where they had washed onto the rocky coast.
Orange, square lifesaving floats with the boat’s name on them were also found on the rocks, the coast guard said. The coast guard said the operator told them that everyone on the boat was wearing a life vest, but some of the victims found were without them.
Experts, local fishers and boat operators said the boat was likely to have run aground after it was tossed around in high waves and damaged.
High waves and strong winds were forecast when the boat left port, and Japanese media said fishing boats had returned to port before noon Saturday because of the bad weather.
Local fisheries cooperative head Kazuhiko Fukayama told NHK television that it was unthinkable for the tour to have gone ahead in weather that was so rough passengers would have found it difficult to stand still.
Accounts of local fishermen and tour boat operators suggest that the Kazu 1 was the only boat in the area, and no other boat was around to help it until the first coast guard rescuers arrived at the scene three hours later.
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