TOKYO (AP) – Rescuers said 10 people rescued Sunday from cold seas and the rocky shores of Northern Japan National Park died a day after a 26 -passenger boat sank in muddy water, causing question why it was so successful. Swimming allowed.
The search for others is still ongoing after the ship sent out a warning call Saturday afternoon saying it was sinking. The location, near the Kashun waterfall, is known as a difficult place for boats to maneuver due to the rocky shore and strong waters.
The 19-ton Kazu 1 was carrying two crew and 24 passengers, including two children, when it encountered problems while traveling along the west coast of the ირ itoko peninsula. The Coast Guard said the 10 victims – seven men and three women – were adults.
The Ministry of Transportation has launched an investigation into the ship operator, who suffered two accidents last year. The ministry said it was considering safety standards and a decision to carry out the tour on Saturday despite the bad weather.
The operator, Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise, was tasked with taking steps to improve safety after previous incidents when he was injured in June and the second in May when three passengers sustained minor injuries when a boat collided with something.
“We will thoroughly investigate what caused this situation and what kind of safety supervision was involved in allowing the tour to take place to prevent an accident,” said Transportation Minister Tetsuo Saito, who visited the hotel, to reporters on Sunday.
After an intense search involving six patrol boats, several planes and divers passing by at night, rescuers found four people near the top of the Shiretoko Peninsula on Sunday morning and six more later on the same side, approximately. 14 miles (8, 7 miles) north. Where the boat sent a distress call. Some of them were taken from the sea, while others were thrown on the rocky shore.
An orange, square-shaped rescue boat with the boat’s name was also found near the rocks, the Coast Guard said.
Footage from public broadcaster NHK shows one of the victims arriving by helicopter and being taken by ambulance on a stretcher. Rescuers took out blue plastic headlights to protect the victim’s privacy.
The tourist ship called Saturday afternoon, saying its bow had flooded and was starting to sink and tilt, the Coast Guard said. Since then, contact with the boat has been lost. The Coast Guard said the operator told them all aboard were wearing life jackets, but some of the victims found did not have them.
The average April sea temperature in Shiretoko National Park is more than freezing, which experts say will cause hypothermia.
“It’s a very difficult situation, especially when they’re wet,” Jun Abe, vice president of the Society for Water Conservation and Survival Research, told TBS TV.
Yoshihiko Yamada, a marine science professor at the University of Tokyo, said the boat apparently sank to the ground after capsizing and being damaged by high waves. A boat of this size does not usually carry a lifeboat, he said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stopped attending the two -day summit in Kumamoto, southern Japan, and returned to Tokyo. On Sunday he told reporters he had instructed officers to “do everything possible to survive”.
The cause of the accident will be determined by the investigation, however, officials and experts suspect safety negligence.
High waves and strong winds are expected as the boat leaves and, according to Japanese media, the fishing boats returned to the port at noon on Saturday due to bad weather.
The crew of the cruise ship, which is owned by another operator, told NHK that they warned the crew of Kazu 1 in the rough ocean and told them not to go. He also said the same boat crashed last year and the bow broke.
The tour on Saturday was reported to be the operator’s first this season, and an incident before Japan’s Golden Week holiday, which begins in late April, could hurt local tourism, which fell during the pandemic. Japan is still closed to foreign visitors.
Hokkaido Governor Naomich Suzuki told reporters on Sunday that he plans to request a security check for tour operators in the prefecture before the holiday.
According to the operator’s website, the tour takes approximately three hours and offers beautiful views of the peninsula’s west coast and views of whales, dolphins, and brown bears. The national park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is known as the southernmost region with sea ice mounds.
Source: Huffpost
