Relatives of victims of a 2022 Kazu I tour boat accident off the coast of Hokkaido sued the boat’s operator and chairman for damages on Wednesday.
In the lawsuit filed in the Sapporo District Court, the plaintiffs, including 29 relatives of 14 passengers on the sunken boat, are seeking about ¥1.499 million ($9.2 million) in damages from Shiretoko Yuransen, the boat’s operator in the Hokkaido city of Shari, and its 61-year-old president, Seiichi Katsurada.
On April 23, 2022, the boat sank in the afternoon off the coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido, killing 20 passengers and crew and leaving six missing.
In its final report released in September 2023, the Japan Transport Safety Board concluded that the direct cause of the sinking was flooding from a defective hatch on the bow deck. The report noted that the boat’s hull and communications equipment were not adequately maintained and that the operator did not have a safety management system.
Last year, the parents of a then 27-year-old crew member who died in the accident filed a damages lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against the government and the government-appointed Japan Craft Inspection Organization, which had inspected the Kazu I boat before the accident, as well as against Katsurada and his company.
The 1st Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, located in the city of Otaru, Hokkaido, is investigating Katsurada with a view to building a case against him on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death.
