4 found from missing tourist boat off Hokkaido

Words we might want to repeat to 'ourselves':

"Eternal Father strong to save

Whose arm has bound the restless wave

Who bids the mighty ocean deep

It's own appointed limits keep

O hear us when we cry to Thee

For those in Peril on the sea"

From the seaman's Hymn by William Whiting, 1860

We must hope for the best for these folks...

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@William Bjornson

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Amen !

During this time of the war(Russia - Ukraine) and North Korea regularly launching missiles, I wouldn't take the chance to risk my life participating in such tours.

But, of course, I hope they are found safe.

That cold water will stop you in your tracks. In ten minutes, you're dead because it's too cold to swim, the muscles lock up, the hypothermia shuts down your thinking, and you go to sleep and drown.

Unless you're in a survival suit, in those frigid waters, you're done in 10-15 minutes, once you get wet, you're in deep trouble. I pray that some made it into a life raft (if equipped).

Just horrible. Even life vests would have been of little use in such conditions.

My deepest condolences to the families involved.

No trace of anything or anybody, that is just totally weird. It almost looks like they all vanished into a different dimension. Maybe there is a time warp/portal there?

Everyone would have or should have worn orange life vests, especially as they had at least 2 hours to prepare an evacuation. So it's very odd that none were spotted when rescuers arrived while the sun was still up. And why did it take so long for the aircraft to get there?

1) Who goes sightseeing in the middle of the night?

Who doesnt read articles other than their titles, or better yet, comprehend what they read.

2) If everyone were wearing life jackets, dead or alive they would be floating.

Dont know much about how effective or reliable life jackets are in high seas and low water temps, also there is nothing mentioned about what type they were.

3) Three hours to arrive after a distress signal for a ship sailing “off the northern tip”?

I think you watch too many cop shows and think that an ambulance or rescue team can be on the spot in minutes. Off the "northern tip" could be 50 kilometers too. A relatively short distance when talking about the ocean.

Oh it takes time for boats to get there and get search and rescue into the air too. 3 hours is relatively short and there is no information about the weather conditions either, only about rough seas, meaning that it is quite possible that there is negligence on the part of the charter owners for going out in rough seas.

New York Post article shows a picture of the boat and adds more information not included here:

https://nypost.com/2022/04/23/japan-searching-for-missing-tour-boat-with-26-on-board/

Sad and TRAGIC, let us pray that these people are found safe, the waters are cold at night but a life jacket could be of great help.

I feel bad for the victims. Unfortunately, they are all lost. Cold water. The rescue teams are too late.

“No trace of anything or anybody, that is just totally weird. It almost looks like they all vanished into a different dimension. Maybe there is a time warp/portal there?”

You watch too much science fiction or believe too much in conspiracies. Please get real.

Well they are not likely to just drown if they are all wearing life jackets.

11 hours later and not a trace ?

No satellite ?

Lets hope they were rescued by a boat but hasn't been reported yet.

I do question the efficiency of response time to emergencies in Japan as it always seems to be too slow no matter what type of accident or disaster.

Why was the KAZU I not equipped with an AIS radio? This system is required on all vessels 250 tons or greater by international "law". Most advanced countries also require it on passenger vessels. The AIS system reports location, speed, direction, and other data every few seconds on VHF radio. The signals can be picked up by other ships, shore stations, and satellites. Several global tracking networks (link marinetraffic dot com) make this data available to the public for free. The apparent sinking and loss of sous on KAZU I is tragic. It might have been mitigated if Japan required AIS on all vessels at sea.

Yubaru

Sorry to correct you .

However -

Some of us are from countries that have frigid northern waters and when a distress call comes in for 26 people are sinking it most certainly definitely doesn't take 3 hours to reach them.

Its quite simply not true when you say 3 hours is relatively short.

This detail cant be disputed over.

the response time is absolutely pathetic.

Its possible you are Japanese and not from any northern ocean regions or from a country that doesn't effectively have rapid response capabilities.

No insult intended.

They just edited the article 5 minutes ago.

In their distress call they reported a list of 30 degrees. It’s likely that it quickly capsized and most will be found inside the ship.

Some of us are from countries that have frigid northern waters

This is here, not "there". I based my comment upon how Japan gets things done and yes your comment can easily be refuted and disputed.

This is classic and truly frustrating Japanese news announcement.

They found four of them but don't know if they are alive or not ?

Then why the announcement.

And only by Sunday morning ?

You have to wonder what the heck the coastguard was doing from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning?

For lack of a better word it just sounds incompetent to me.

Maybe a song similar to the Edmund Fitzgerald can be written to commemorate this tragedy.

@zichi, since all the other operators canceled due to the weather I would say yes.

By education , I am Eng. mechanic. But I dealt with making the sound at concerts my apparatus .. It so happened that a few times , even ten times , I made a concert in Gdansk Shipyard Hall (which is then burned )

. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_in_the_Gdansk_Shipyard_hall

We have always had a pass to the shipyard , because the entrance to the hall was the scene from the side yard. I as the driver of the car, after a few hours of driving , I've always had a break , and my employees were unloading acoustic equipment and lined it . I have two hours of free time , and this pass, always walked across the yard and spied on how the technology of shipbuilding . Often talked with employees who explained to me the various ins and outs of building ships . Then I met shipbuilding quite accurately , because she was always very interested mechanics ... Then I came to realize concert .. With these trips , I know how much free space is on a big ship . Here I present figure of the ferry , which sink .. Knowing its importance , which is 6800 tons , and subtracting approximately 1,500 tons , steel, wood , fuel , and such a variety can displace water , leaves us to displace the water about 5300 tons. , And then ship will not drown .. an average of 5300 tonnes divided by the length of the vessel is 146 meters = one meter will fall an average of 36 tons. so much water should displace to get afloat .. Now the height of each side of the free spaces submerged to 2 x 10 meters. .. For the average 15 meters wide double bottom .. together gives us 35 running meters , part of the flotation technique around the ship ( floating section ) .. So enough that the average thickness of 1 m polystyrene foam , applied to each inner metal shell of the ship , provided the to always buoyancy of the ship .... only 1 meter thick ..

 https://www.new4stroke.com/Ferry.jpg

”3 hours later?” As a high school student I worked for California State Parks, and if a boat or ship went down anywhere from Imperial Beach to Crescent City, there would be aircraft over the area in 30 minutes or less.

Kyo wa heiwa dayo neToday  08:57 am JST

This is classic and truly frustrating Japanese news announcement.

They found four of them but don't know if they are alive or not ?

Four persons were found, their condition given as 意識不明. Whether they are alive or dead will be determined by qualified medical personnel.

Then why the announcement.

Because the media are nagging them for news.

And only by Sunday morning ?

That's when the information was available.

You have to wonder what the heck the coastguard was doing from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning?

The JCG were searcing Sat through Sun for survivors and flotsam. But searches can not be carried out at night.

For lack of a better word it just sounds incompetent to me.

Don't see any incompetence on the part of JCG. The vessel should not have been out if weather conditions were such that other vessels stayed in port. Why wasn't there an automatic EPIRB? No time would have been wasted on a wide area search. Rescue at sea is a difficult and arduous task, often putting the responders at risk. Aspects unkown to people who have had no personal experience with such operations.

I took this tour about 6-7 years ago, The vessel stays within 0.25-0,5 miles of the shoreline to allow the tourists to view the bears on the rocky beaches. Far enough from the shore to avoid any rocks. This route is known inside out to these operators. The initial report of a 30 degree list suggests an unexpected and sudden accident and an investigation will determine the cause.

An article on Yahoo Japan says it was too stormy (the word they use is "shike") for the local fishermen to head out on a rescue mission. It also says it was the first day of the tours this season and it likely affected the decision to go out, given that Golden Week starts very soon. Also mentioned was that the tour boats stay close to shore to view waterfalls etc. and this puts them where the biggest waves are.