Missing Japan tourist boat found, 12 people still missing

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Japan’s Coast Guard on Friday successfully located a vessel which sank off the country’s northernmost island of Hokkaido.

Twenty-six people including two crew members were on board the vessel last Saturday when it got caught in rough waters off the Shiretoko Peninsula.

The coast guard retrieved 14 bodies from the raging waters while 12 others are still missing, with authorities hoping the bodies might be trapped inside the vessel.

Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force “conducted a search with an underwater camera” to locate the vessel, Kyodo News reported.

Authorities said the vessel was “found at a depth of around 120 meters” or 394 feet underwater near Kashuni Falls.

“The vessel issued its last distress call” from a popular tourist site near the tip of the peninsula.

“The camera captured the boat's name written on the bow. The vessel was found lying on the bottom of the sea where sunlight does not reach and visibility is poor. The authorities will continue to investigate with unmanned vehicles,” the report said.

Two children were also on board the 19-ton Kazu I when it left the port of Shari on Japan’s northernmost Hokkaido Island last Saturday to cruise along the peninsula, which was classified as a World Natural Heritage site in 2005 and is home to several rare animal and plant species.

Russian border security personnel had spotted “a person drifting Wednesday in the water with a life vest west of Kunashiri Island off Hokkaido Island,” a Japanese Coast Guard official said.

But Russian authorities were “unable to mount a rescue and lost sight of the person due to stormy weather.”