A tourist boat with 26 people on board, including two children, has disappeared from northern Japan for several hours without a trace of survivors, the country’s coast guard said.
The 19-ton Kazu1 made an emergency call on Saturday afternoon, saying the ship’s bow had been flooded and was beginning to sink and tilt.
The crew also said that the people on board were wearing life jackets and the boat was tilted at an angle of 30 degrees.
He was traveling along the west coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula, in the northern island of Hokkaido.
There has been no contact from the boat since.
The ship was carrying 24 passengers, two of whom were children, and had two crew members.
Six patrol boats, four planes and divers were sent to the area to search for survivors.
High waves and strong winds were observed in the area around 12 pm, a local fishing cooperative said.
Local media reported that the fishing boats returned to the port before noon due to bad weather.
NHK reported that there was a warning for waves up to three meters (almost 10 feet) high.
Yoshihiko Yamada, a professor of marine science at Tokai University, said the boat may have been stranded after being ejected by high waves, then damaged and flooded before possibly sinking.
The academician also said there was little chance the boat had been hit by a whale.
The operator’s website says the tour takes about three hours and offers scenic views of the west coast of the peninsula, including animals such as whales, dolphins and brown bears.
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