As of May 3, local time, 12 people were still missing from the sightseeing boat that crashed in the waters off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, Japan. It is reported that after the accident, the president of the sightseeing boat operating company "Shiretoko Cruise" once told the families of the missing persons. Send written material acknowledging that the vessel violated sailing regulations.
According to a report by Japan's "Mainichi Shimbun" on May 3, after the accident on the sightseeing boat, Seiichi Katsura, the president of its operating company "Shiretoko Cruise", sent a written material to the families of the missing persons.
In it, he admitted that the accident could have been avoided had it been operated in accordance with the company's sailing regulations.
Earlier, according to a report on the Nippon Television website on the 2nd, the station obtained a telephone recording of the president of the Hokkaido wrecked sightseeing ship operating company, which was recorded the day before the company's press conference.
In this recording, regarding the cause of the accident, the president of the incident company did not mention the issue of safety management, but said that the ship may have hit a whale.
On April 23, a sightseeing boat carrying 26 people from the Japanese "Shiretoko Excursion Ship" transportation company lost contact in the waters near the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido. It was later confirmed that the boat had sunk and 14 people were confirmed dead.
The company's president apologized for the accident at a press conference on the 27th.
(He Xinlei, Headquarters reporter)