Sunken Kazu I tour boat had nonregulation radio

The company that operated the Kazu I sightseeing boat that sank o the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido with 26 people aboard was using a ham radio — instead of a professional radio as called for by its own safety manual — to communicate with the ship, and the operator had received administrative directives from the transport ministry in the past, it was learned Monday.

It was also found that a satellite phone, intended for use as another means of communication, was out of order at the time of the accident.

e operator, Shiretoko Pleasure Boat, had submitted its safety management manual under the Maritime Transportation Law, stipulating that three di erent communication methods — satellite phone, mobile phone and professional radio — were to be used for communications mainly between a ship captain and an onshore operation manager.

e mobile phone was said to have been out of range for most of its route.

According to a Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry source, the Kazu I su ered two accidents in May and June last year, and the ministry conducted a special audit in June. At that time, the ministry con

rmed that the ship was using a ham radio, which is vulnerable to interference in the form of cross-talk. e Ship Safety Law does not allow the use of a ham radio as a communication tool for small passenger ships, and the ministry instructed the company to use a satellite phone instead.

However, Shiretoko Pleasure Boat President Seiichi Katsurada has said that the satellite phone was out of order before the accident. It seems highly likely that a satellite phone was not even on board the Kazu I on the day of the accident.

A vessel inspection on April 20, three days before the accident, found that Kazu I’s communication method had changed from a satellite phone to a mobile phone.

But most of its route was not covered by mobile phone communications service, and an emergency call from Kazu I on the day of the accident was made from the mobile phone number of one of the passengers.

As a result, it is highly likely that none of the three communication methods stipulated by Shiretoko Pleasure Boat in its manual functioned at the time of the accident. e ministry is investigating in a special audit conducted a er the accident.

FLOWER OFFERINGS

Meanwhile on Tuesday, people were seen o ering owers at a sports facility that had served as a temporary morgue in the Hokkaido town of Shari, where the Kazu I set sail from the Utoro Fishing Port.

“I came to o er owers, feeling that an accident like this should never happen again,” a 68-year-old Hokkaido resident said.

According to the town, 585 bouquets of owers and o erings of sweets had been placed there by Monday. “We cherish the feelings of those who come to o er owers,” a town o cial said. (May 11)

The Yomiuri Shimbun Offerings of flowers and sweets are seen Tuesday at a sports facility that served as a temporary morgue for bodies recovered after the sinking of the Kazu I tour boat.