2 Dead after 2 Ships Capsize off Henoko in Okinawa

Naha, Okinawa Pref., March 16 (Jiji Press)–Two ships capsized on Monday off the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan, leaving two people dead and two others injured. There were 21 people aboard the ships–three crew members and 18 second grade students from Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyotanabe, Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, who were visiting Okinawa for study. The two people who died were a 17-year-old female student and the captain of the 1.9-ton Fukutsu, one of the two ships, who was in his 70s, according to the Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of Okinawa. The incident occurred around 10:10 a.m., when a high surf advisory had been issued for the northern part of Okinawa’s main island, which includes Henoko. The Fukutsu had eight students and one crew member on board. The other ship was the Heiwa Maru, weighing under 5 tons and carrying 10 students and two crew members. According to the school, some 270 second graders were visiting Okinawa for four days from Saturday. The 18 students on board the ships were scheduled to travel to waters off Henoko to view the construction site for the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station from Ginowan, also in Okinawa, school officials said. The incident occurred outside a restricted area where entry around the construction site is prohibited, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]