Tour boat with 26 aboard missing in frigid Japan waters

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

TOKYO (AP) — A tour boat with 26 people aboard was missing in the frigid waters of northern Japan on Saturday, hours after sending a distress call that it was sinking, the coast guard said.

No survivors have been found after more than 10 hours of intense search involving six patrol boats, five aircraft and divers. The coast guard said it will continue the search through the night.

The 19-ton Kazu 1 made an emergency call in early afternoon, saying the ship’s bow had flooded and it was beginning to sink and tilt while traveling off the western coast of Shiretoko Peninsula in the northern island of Hokkaido, the coast guard said.

The tour boat has since lost contact, according to the coast guard. It said the boat was carrying 24 passengers, including two children, and two crew.



This photo shows a fishing port where a tour boat which went missing, left for tour in Shari, in the northern island of Hokkaido Saturday, April 23, 2022. A tour boat with 26 people aboard was missing in rough waters off northern Japan on Saturday after issuing a distress call and reporting to be sinking, the coast guard said. (Kyodo News via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/japan-a819e198d433c786556526c831f27191

[zuul]

1. Oh no. How awful.

[C Moon]

2. It's 29 degrees there right now. Those poor people!

[IcyPeas]

3. another article says it may have been hit by a whale

In an interview with the TBS television, Yamada said there is also a slight possibility that the boat might have been hit by a whale.

According to the operator's website, the tour takes about three hours and offers a scenic view of the western coast of the peninsula, including the nature and animals such as whales, dolphins and the brown bear. The national park is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is famous as the southernmost region to see drifting sea ice.

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/23/1094500394/japan-missing-tour-boat-26-people

[Martin68]

4. What happened to the life boats or life rafts?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Frighteningly, it had none, because they weren't required - see #6 (nt)

[Algernon Moncrieff]

5. Not good news

TOKYO (AP) — Rescuers said that 10 people who were retrieved Sunday from the frigid sea and the rocky coast of a northern Japanese national park had died, a day after a tour boat with 26 aboard apparently sank in rough waters, triggering questions why it was allowed to sail.

NBC News

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. How a Japanese boat trip ended in tragedy: inexperienced captain, bad weather, no liferafts

The skipper of another tour boat says he told the captain of the Kazu 1 it was too dangerous to go out. But he says he was ignored.
...
According to Japanese media, he had been trained to operate lake boats but had been hired by the Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise company to replace more experienced skippers who had been "let go" by the owner.
...
But no. In-shore passenger vessels are not required to have rafts.

The Kazu 1 had only life vests and floats for passengers to hold on to. Plunged into the freezing waters off northern Hokkaido in April an average adult would survive no more than an hour, experts say. A child much less.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-61212761

I am amazed that Japan allows a sea-going boat out without liferafts.

[Martin68]

8. That's insane. Venturing into rough weather in the Pacific Ocean off Hokkaido without life rafts!