5 Years Sought for Boat Operator Head over Fatal Sinking

Kushiro, Hokkaido, April 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese public prosecutors on Thursday sought a five-year prison sentence for Seiichi Katsurada, president of the operator of a tour boat that sank off Hokkaido in 2022, killing 26 people aboard. In his trial at Kushiro District Court in the northernmost Japan prefecture, the defense for the 62-year-old head of Shiretoko Yuransen has claimed his innocence for professional negligence resulting in death, arguing that the accident, which occurred off the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido, was unpredictable. Katsurada said in his first hearing: “The captain (of the boat) told me, ‘We’ll turn back before the weather worsens,’ so I thought it would be fine and decided to let the boat depart. I don’t know if the crime written in the indictment will be established.” According to the indictment, Katsurada let the 26 people die as he neglected his duty of instructing the captain of the Kazu I tour boat to call off the cruise or suspend it after departure on April 23, 2022, despite being able to foresee the possibility of a fatal accident with wind speeds and wave heights forecast at levels warranting the cancellation of the departure. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]