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© KYODOSalvaged Hokkaido tourist boat taken off barge for inspection
ABASHIRI, Hokkaido©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Rodney
I wonder if it is be renamed and refitted or sold for scrap? You can buy houses cheaply here if there was a murder or something happened in it.
virusrex
The cause of the accident may still be undefined, but the cause of the tragedy is already crystal clear, lax and insufficient control from part of the safety authorities towards the operators, that let this one in particular make a terribly dangerous trip without basic safety measures that could at least give a chance of survival for the passengers.
Sanjinosebleed
Revoke the operators license only???
The owner should already be in jail!
gogogo
Anyone know why the had to wrap it in a blue tarp?
snakebyte
That's an 'iffy' looking photo, the perspective doesn't look right?
Disillusioned
Looking at the shape of the hull it is a lake boat. It should not have been operating in the ocean. It has a very shallow draft and no V in the hull. It's not just the operator who should be in trouble. The governemnt agency that gave permission to use this boat as an ocean cruiser also needs to be held accountable for the deaths. Any swell over a meter would swamp this boat.
Mr Kipling
I'm surprised how small the boat is for 26 people. Whats really shocking is that it was licensed to carry SIXTY people.
Laguna
Apparently, the president of the company, who had ultimate say on departure, was away from the office, against protocol, when the boat departed. Perhaps the captain feared criticism - or loss of his job - if he unilaterally cancelled the cruise when swells were at the maximum of what was considered safe. This kind of thing is common in Japan.
Reminds me of the maxim of my surfing days: "If in doubt, don't go out."
tKjoE
Along with the tour operator the Japanese Coast Guard needs to help liable for not having enough boats/helicopters in the area to help rescue to passengers. Given the tourism in the area, number of fisherman and rough seas conditions for the area I find it hard to believe they had no ships and 1 helicopter. Great idea- instead of wasting more yen on Olympics in Sapporo why not invest in more coast guard equipment to save life’s not enriching politicians and IOC.
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
What will they do ?
Try to find out why it sunk ?
Redundant !
2 months after they are finally doing that - omg !
Rodney
In the sea the captain is responsible
The Avenger
NHK said there was a warning for high waves of up to 3 meters (9 feet). What the heck was a tour boat out in seas like that? A 19 ton boat is not all that big, I would guess in the 40+- foot range.
Steven Mccarthy
The key word in each story about this avoidable tragedy is “tour.” The investigation needs to run its full course. There’s the potential for all kinds of blame to go around …. Starting with the word “Tour.”
John-San
Dave: the boat is accident investigation and also a delivery (package) So if you combine culture habits of screening of accidents from public view and the over done packaging when shopping in Japan you can understand why the boat is wrapped up like some secret projects. A question was ask why the vessel was wrapped up . So I reply with my obversvation of what I notice in Japan culture and this is a very good reason why. It would be helpful if you like would to contribute with your analogy.
OssanAmerica
Understand that a forward bulkhead was found destroyed and may have contributed to fast flooding. Waiting to hear more about it.
The blue tarp, as ridiculous as it seems, is just standard procudure with J-police for investigation to isiolate a crime scene or evidence, and often to keep out prying media and civilian eyes.
3RENSHO
To clear up some apparent confusion, I wish to point out the Kazu 1 is NOT covered by a 'blue tarp'; it is in fact covered by a 'buru shiito'.
3RENSHO
Today it was revealed there were 60 centimetre holes in three compartmental bulkheads which allowed water to reach the engine after the hull was ruptured.
Brian Wheway
This tragedy could so easily have been avoided, all it take is one person to say "No, sorry its not happening"
OssanAmerica
Sorry but you are wrong. That is not a flat bottomed boat. It is a Semi-V as clearly seen in the photo. Semi-V hulls are regularly used for inshore ocean boats worldwide with drafts 1-4ft. Not the Deep-V that you see on offshore Trawlers that draw 8ft.