Tourist boat missing with 26 people abroad in Japan

Friday, April 29, 2022

A tourist boat that went missing six days ago with 26 people aboard was found on the seabed off Hokkaido on Friday, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) said. The 19-ton Kazu I was located after the Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted a search with an underwater camera off Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula. The name “Kazu I” was confirmed on the hull of the boat, the JCG said.

The bodies of 14 people have been found since contact with the 19-ton boat was lost on April 23 during a tour around the peninsula.

The boat was found at a depth of around 100 meters near Kashuni Falls, a popular scenic site near the tip of the peninsula and close to where the boat had issued a distress call. Twelve people remain unaccounted for.

Quoting a senior coast guard official, reported that the JCG does not have equipment to search that deep underwater, so it won’t be able to immediately check the condition of the boat. The JCG plans to salvage the ship at some point, and is now considering how it should proceed.

The coast guard also said the Russian border security agency had notified them Wednesday of a body drifting in the water off Hokkaido, west of Kunashiri Island, wearing a life vest.

The Russian authorities said they were unable to retrieve the body and lost sight of it due to stormy weather, according to the Japanese official.

Kunashiri is one of several disputed islands off of Hokkaido. The disputed islands are collectively called the Northern Territories by Tokyo and the Southern Kurils by Moscow.

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