In the accident where a sightseeing boat sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, it was found that the location where the boat reported inundation at the beginning of the accident was about 200 meters away from the sinking point.

The Japan Coast Guard is investigating in detail, assuming that something went wrong with the ship at that time and it may have sunk shortly after the report, without being able to maneuver the ship.

It has been one month since the accident that the sightseeing boat "KAZU 1" sank off the coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula, killing 14 people and missing 12 people.

According to the Japan Coast Guard, at the beginning of the accident, as a result of confirming the location information of the 118th call to inform the inundation from the tour boat, it was about 200 meters away from the sinking point.



The reporting position is a place where the tide is fast, and the sightseeing boat is sinking in the same northeast direction as the tide. I think it may have sunk soon.



In addition, according to the Japan Coast Guard officials, it was confirmed that there was a hole near the rear of the left side of the ship, the front window glass was damaged, and the window frame was deformed outward. It is possible that the inundation progressed and the pressure of the seawater filled inside the ship damaged the windowpanes from the inside to the outside.



On the other hand, the report was made in a place where there are few reefs offshore about 1 km from the land, and it seems that there is no risk of contact with rocks near the report position, so the Japan Coast Guard reported damage to the hull and an accident. I am investigating the relationship in detail.

Japan Coast Guard Search for missing persons and investigate the cause of the accident

The Japan Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the accident in parallel with the search for the missing person, but since there are no witnesses, the ship sank, and the condition of the hull could not be confirmed in detail, this is one of the reasons. In the month, the cause remained uncertain.



[1 Initially denied the theory of hull damage]



According to a person concerned with the Japan Coast Guard, the result of confirming the location information of the 118th call sent from the mobile phone of the passenger of the tourist ship at 1:18 pm on the day of the accident. , The reporting position and the point where the ship sank were about 200 meters apart.



The location of this report is several tens of meters deep, and it is not a shallow water with reefs, so according to the people concerned, the initial cause investigation by the Japan Coast Guard was that the hull was damaged due to contact with rocks. It was hard to imagine that it was possible that flooding might have occurred due to the "driving" of high waves entering the ship.



[2 No confirmation of high wave driving]



However, as a result of investigating the hull that sank on the seabed after that, it is said that no confirmation has been obtained to support this "driving".



If it turns out that the windowpane in front of the ship was broken and high waves broke through the windowpane and seawater entered the ship, glass fragments etc. would be left inside the ship. I couldn't see the situation.



Rather, the windowpanes may have been damaged by internal pressure rather than external high waves.



[3 A hole in the hull, as if it were shaking]



In addition to this situation, it was also found that there was a hole in the rear of the hull.



Officials of the Japan Coast Guard said that it was possible that a hole was made in the hull for some reason and that the inside of the ship was flooded from there.



The situation where the windowpanes appear to have broken from the inside to the outside is consistent if the pressure of the seawater that fills the inside of the ship is applied.



On the other hand, if it is difficult to think of contact in a reef, as originally suggested, the cause of the hole in the hull is unknown.



Officials say that damage caused by the impact of sinking to the seabed cannot be completely denied.



Assuming the cause of the shaking for the past month.



The Japan Coast Guard wants to elucidate the cause of the accident by pulling up the hull and conducting a detailed investigation.