Tuesday, May 30, 2023
The Optic News
Advertisement
  • Home
  • Local
  • World
  • National
  • Politics
  • Finance
  • Sports
  • Science
  • Classifieds
  • Social
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Local
  • World
  • National
  • Politics
  • Finance
  • Sports
  • Science
  • Classifieds
  • Social
No Result
View All Result
The Optic News
No Result
View All Result
Home News World

Tour boat with 26 people aboard missing in Japan after sending distress call

April 23, 2022
in World
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


A tour boat with 26 people aboard was missing in the frigid waters of northern Japan on Saturday, hours after sending a distress call that it was sinking, the coast guard said.

No survivors have been found after more than 10 hours of intense search involving six patrol boats, five aircraft and divers. The coast guard said it will continue the search through the night.

Tour ship with 26 people missing off Shiretoko
An aerial photo taken from Yomiuri’s jet plane shows a vessel of the Japan Coast Guard searching for a tour boat, which is missing in waters off Shiretoko Penisula, a World Heritage site, 

Kanji Tada / AP


The 19-ton Kazu 1 made an emergency call in early afternoon, saying the ship’s bow had flooded and it was beginning to sink and tilt while traveling off the western coast of Shiretoko Peninsula in the northern island of Hokkaido, the coast guard said.

The tour boat has since lost contact, according to the coast guard. It said the boat was carrying 24 passengers, including two children, and two crew.

Average April sea temperatures in Shiretoko National Park are just above freezing.

An official of the vessel’s operator, Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise, said he could not comment as he had to respond to calls from worried families of the passengers.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was attending a two-day water summit in Kumamoto in southern Japan, was canceling his program for Sunday and was set to return to Tokyo to deal with the missing boat, the NHK public broadcaster reported.

High waves and strong winds were observed in the area around noon, according to a local fisheries cooperative. Japanese media reports said fishing boats had returned to port before noon because of the bad weather.

NHK said there was a warning for high waves of up to 3 meters (9 feet) high.

Yoshihiko Yamada, a Tokai University marine science professor, said the boat was likely to have run aground after it was tossed around in high waves and damaged, flooded and probably sank. A tour boat of that size usually does not carry a life boat, and passengers possibly could not jump out of a rapidly sinking vessel with its windows probably closed to shield them from strong winds.

In an interview with the TBS television, Yamada said there is also a slight possibility that the boat might have been hit by a whale.

The cold temperature and strong wind could cause hypothermia and put the passengers in severe conditions for survival, according to Jun Abe, vice chairman of the Society of Water Rescue and Survival Research. “It’s a very severe condition especially when they are wet,” Abe told TBS.

According to the operator’s website, the tour takes about three hours and offers a scenic view of the western coast of the peninsula, including the nature and animals such as whales, dolphins and the brown bear. The national park is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is famous as the southernmost region to see drifting sea ice.

The Shiretoko Peninsula of Hokkaido
The Shiretoko Peninsula of Hokkaido, Japan, is pictured in this photo taken by Kyodo on September 25, 2021. 

KYODO / REUTERS


In December, a 69-year-old man drifted in choppy waters for nearly a day while clinging to the bottom of his capsized boat until he was saved by Japan’s coast guard. Last August, a cargo ship ran aground and broke into two off northern Japan, and the 21 crew members were rescued.


Rescuers save man clinging to capsized boat off Japanese island

00:42

Trending News



Source link

Tags: aboardboatCalldistressJapanmissingpeoplesendingTour
Share30Tweet19
Previous Post

Acosta, Navarro Accuse Republicans of ‘Cancelling’ Disney

Next Post

Polling stations abroad open in French presidential election runoff

Recommended For You

Family of 11-year-old shot by police files $5m negligence lawsuit | Police News

by The Optic News
May 30, 2023
0

Carlos Moore, lawyer for 11-year-old Aderrien Murry, says he hopes his client will be a ‘catalyst for police reform’.Lawyers for the family of an 11-year-old boy shot by...

Read more

Drones Attack Moscow as Kyiv Is Hit Again: Latest Russia-Ukraine News

by The Optic News
May 30, 2023
0

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with yet another wave of attack drones early Tuesday, killing at least one person, setting residential buildings ablaze and...

Read more

NATO to deploy extra 700 troops to Kosovo as tensions with ethnic Serbs rise | World News

by The Optic News
May 30, 2023
0

NATO will deploy an extra 700 troops to Kosovo amid rising tensions with ethnic Serbs.An additional battalion of reserve forces have also been put on high alert to...

Read more

Novak Djokovic wades into Kosovo-Serbia controversy at French Open as dozens injured in clashes

by The Optic News
May 30, 2023
0

After his first-round victory at the French Open on Monday, Serbian tennis superstar Novak Djokovic penned the message "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence" on...

Read more

The Clarence Thomas scandal echoes Supreme Court corruption rulings

by The Optic News
May 30, 2023
0

The Supreme Court recently reversed the conviction of a onetime aide and campaign manager for disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The decision may have surprised those...

Read more
Next Post

Polling stations abroad open in French presidential election runoff

Government Cuts LIC IPO Size To 3.5%

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hydrate

The Optic News

Copyright © 2022 - The Optic News.
The Optic News is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
  • Client Portal
  • Client Portal
  • Client Portal
  • Client Portal

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Local
  • World
  • National
  • Politics
  • Finance
  • Sports
  • Science
  • Classifieds
  • Social

Copyright © 2022 - The Optic News.
The Optic News is not responsible for the content of external sites.