Hokkaido Boat Operator Pres. Charged over 2022 Sinking

   Kushiro, Hokkaido, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--Public prosecutors Wednesday indicted the president of a tour boat operator over a fatal sinking incident off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, in April 2022.
   The Kushiro District Public Prosecutors Office charged Seiichi Katsurada, 61, head of Shiretoko Yuransen, based in the Hokkaido town of Shari, with professional negligence resulting in death. Katsurada has denied the charges, according to investigators.
   The Japan Coast Guard arrested him last month over the death of all 26 people aboard the sunken Kazu I tour boat. It alleged that he neglected his duty as the person in charge of the Kazu I's operation to give appropriate instructions to the boat captain, resulting in seawater gushing in through a hatch due to high waves to cause the boat to sink.
   On the day of the incident, Katsurada let the Kazu I operate after deciding with the captain that the boat would return if the weather worsened. He is believed to have told investigators after his arrest that the sinking could have been avoided had the captain turned back.
   Katsurada's trial is expected to focus on whether the accident was foreseeable.

(2024/10/09-14:21)

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