In April last year, the family of the deceased deck crew filed a lawsuit against the government for more than 4 million yen in compensation over the accident in which a sightseeing boat sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, claiming that the inspection of the ship conducted by the government was insufficient.
In April last year, the sightseeing boat KAZU 4 sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, killing 1 people and leaving 20 missing.
The Japan Transport Safety Board of the country that investigated released a progress report stating that the lid of the hatch in front of the ship was not closed sufficiently and that seawater flowed in through it, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued a business improvement instruction to the Japan Small Vessel Inspection Organization, which had inspected the vessel on behalf of the government three days before the accident, saying that the inspection of the hatch was insufficient.
The parents of Mr. Sei Soyama (then 6), who died aboard the ship as a deck crew at the time, filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court on April 3 asking the government for more than 27 million yen in compensation, claiming that an accident occurred as a result of passing the ship through a neglectful inspection.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has said that it has not received the complaint and will refrain from commenting.
In addition, the parents have filed a lawsuit against the operating company "Shiretoko Pleasure Boat" and the president, seeking compensation of more than 4 million yen in total.