TOKYO –
Japan’s Coast Guard said on Sunday that rescue helicopters had found seven of the 26 people on a cruise ship who had disappeared in the cold waters of northern Japan the day before, but their condition was unknown.
Rescuers found four people near the top of the Shiretoko Peninsula earlier Sunday and then three more in the same area a few hours later, but the Coast Guard said it could not confirm whether they had been rescued alive. Public television NHK reported that they were unconscious.
The Coast Guard said all seven people were found in the same area near the top of the peninsula north of where the boat sent a distress signal on Saturday. The location is known as a difficult place to maneuver boats because of its rocky shore. The same tourist boat had an accident there last year.
NHK footage shows one of the rescued people arriving by helicopter and transferred to an ambulance on a stretcher while rescuers held blue plastic shields for privacy.
The boat carrying 24 passengers, including two children and two crew members, disappeared after a distress signal was sent, saying it was taking water and starting to sink.
Sunday’s rescue came after nearly 7 hours of intense search involving six patrol boats, several planes and divers. The Coast Guard said the search continued into the night.
The 19-ton Kazu 1 made an emergency call early Saturday afternoon, saying the ship’s bow was flooded and began sinking and tilting as it traveled from the west coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula to the northern island of Hokkaido, the Coast Guard said.
The tourist boat has since lost contact, according to the Coast Guard. Nineteen people are still unknown.
The average April sea temperatures in Shiretoko National Park are just above zero.
An employee of the ship’s operator, Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise, said he could not comment because he had to answer calls from worried families of passengers.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who attended a two-day summit in Kumamoto, southern Japan, canceled his second day program and returned to Tokyo. He told reporters in the early hours of Sunday that he had instructed staff “to do everything possible to save”.
The cause of the accident is still being investigated, but experts believe the boat was stranded and damaged in rough seas in an area known for strong currents and rocky shores.
High waves and strong winds were observed in the area around noon, according to a local fishing association. Japanese media reported that the fishing boats returned to the port before noon due to bad weather.
NHK said it had a warning for high waves up to 3 meters (9 feet).
A crew of a tourist boat belonging to another operator told NHK that he had warned of a stormy sea when he spotted the crew of Kazu 1 and told them not to go. He said the same boat ran aground last year and had a cracked nose.
The Coast Guard confirmed that the same boat ran aground last June, although no one was injured in the accident.
Yoshihiko Yamada, a professor of marine science at Tokay University, said the boat may have been stranded after being thrown around in high waves and damaged, flooded and possibly sunk. A tourist boat of this size usually does not carry a lifeboat, and passengers probably could not escape from a fast-sinking ship with closed windows to protect them from strong winds.
In an interview with TBS television, Yamada said the boat was unlikely to be hit by a whale.
Cold temperatures and strong winds can cause hypothermia and put passengers in difficult survival conditions, according to Jun Abe, vice president of the Society for Water Rescue and Survival Research. “It’s a very serious condition, especially when it’s wet,” Abe told TBS.
According to the operator’s website, the tour takes about three hours and offers scenic views of the west coast of the peninsula and includes potential sightings of animals such as whales, dolphins and brown bears. The national park is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and is known as the southernmost region where floating sea ice can be seen.
Add Comment