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The Sunken Ship: The Kazu 1
Photo: Shiretoko Tour Boat/EPA
A pleasure boat with 26 people on board sank off the coast of Japan.
It is possible that all the passengers and crew members drowned – even seven hours after the accident, the Japanese coast guard could not find any survivors.
The ship sank on Saturday afternoon Japanese time.
This is reported by the Japanese broadcaster NHK.
The coast guard is looking for people with six ships and four planes.
There were two crew members and 24 passengers on board, including two children.
Before the ship, the »Kazu 1«, went under, it had sent out a distress signal: water was getting into the stern and it was beginning to sink.
The crew also radioed that everyone on board was wearing life jackets.
After that the connection was broken.
The ship should have returned at 1 p.m. – the emergency call came at around 1:15 p.m
The ship left the port of Utoro at ten o'clock in the morning.
Utoro is located in the east of the island of Hokkaido.
The ship normally cruises along the coast of Shiretoko National Park, which is in close proximity.
The tours usually lasted three hours.
The ship was expected to return around 1 p.m., but had not appeared by then.
At around 1:15 p.m. local time, the coast guard received the distress call from the ship.
The weather is said to have deteriorated on Saturday afternoon – fishing boats had returned to the port at the time because high waves and strong winds were expected, as Japanese media reported.
has/AP/Reuters