Kashunino Falls, the area where the last distress message was sent by a tourist boat that sank off the coast of Shiretoko Peninsula in northern Hokkaido, Japan on the 23rd of last month. A missing tourist boat was found on the seabed at a depth of 120 m offshore nearby. Jiji = Yonhap News
On the 23rd of last month, 14 bodies were found as of the 1st, more than a week after the tourist boat carrying 26 people sank off the coast of Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, Japan. Among them, a crew member of a fishing enforcement boat who discovered a 3-year-old girl, Ms. Nanako, told the Japanese media the situation at the time.
According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, it was the Hokkaido fishing enforcement boat “Kaiomaru” that discovered Nanako. According to the crew, on the day of the accident, when Kaiomaru heard that the accident had occurred while he was working on a trade to crack down on illegal fishing, he applied for cooperation with the Maritime Security Headquarters (located in Otaru). The next day, at around 7:30 pm on the 24th, she arrived to the east of the Shiretoko Peninsula and continued the search at a low speed of 10 km/h while illuminating the sea surface with lights.
At around 8:50 p.m. while the six crew members were exploring, something was faintly visible through the white waves. After checking with binoculars, she found Ms. Nanako floating on her stomach in a beige parka and white shoes. He was not wearing a life jacket. Sailors remembered her, “When I look back on when I ‘potted’ in front of her, it feels as if she came to be found first.” However, it was impossible to rescue the Kaiomaru, a broken ship, and had to wait until the patrol boat arrived to avoid being swept away by the waves. Said the sailors, “It was so sad that I had no choice but to watch Miss Nanako floating in the cold sea.”
Ms. Nanako disappeared with her parents and was the first to be found. His father’s body was also found recently, but his mother’s body has not yet been found. According to relatives, for these families, sightseeing in Hokkaido and Shiretoko has been their dream. After stopping by famous tourist spots such as Hakodate for a week, he had an accident on the last itinerary before coming to Tokyo.
On the 23rd of last month, a ship that appeared to be a tourist boat that sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in northern Hokkaido, Japan, was found at a depth of 120 meters under the sea. The name of the ship, ‘KAZU 1’, is clearly visible on the side of the ship, photographed through the underwater camera. Provided by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (EPA) Yonhap News
So far, 12 missing persons have not been found. The Korea Coast Guard is attempting to take pictures by sending an underwater camera down to the hull found in the seabed at a depth of 120m. However, the water is so deep that it is difficult to control the camera. The bereaved family wants to search for the missing person who may be inside through the salvage, but it has not been decided whether or not to salvage it. Since it is a deep place that divers cannot enter, it costs a lot of money to salvage the wire with an underwater drone. The Japanese media predicted that even that would be possible after the middle of next month and could take up to several months.
Tokyo = Jinju Choi correspondent pariscom@hankookilbo.com
