Probe Continues 1 Month after Fatal Ship Accident in Okinawa

Tokyo, April 16 (Jiji Press)–One month after two boats capsized off Okinawa Prefecture to leave two people aboard dead, including a female high school student, authorities are continuing their investigations into details of the accident, such as why the vessels sailed out despite safety concerns. The Japan Coast Guard’s 11th regional headquarters in Naha, the capital of the southernmost Japan prefecture, seized the two boats and searched facilities related to the organization that operated the ship on suspicions including professional negligence resulting in death and injury. The JCG regional branch aims to clarify the circumstances regarding the decision by the boats’ captains to depart and whether the decision was appropriate, by interviewing officials of Doshisha International Senior High School in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, which the female student attended, among other measures. Decision-making as to whether to depart was left to the captains. The accident occurred on March 16 in waters off the coast of the Henoko district in the Okinawa city of Nago, where work is underway to build a new base to take over the functions of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station, now located in Ginowan, another city in Okinawa. When they capsized, the two boats were carrying three crew members and 18 students from the high school who were visiting Okinawa for peace studies. Hajime Kanai, the 71-year-old captain of the Fukutsu, one of the two boats, and Tomoka Takeishi, 17, a second grader of the school on the Heiwa Maru, the other boat, died in the accident. The two boats were operated by a civic group opposing the base relocation, and were normally used for the group’s protest activities. At the time of the accident, wind speeds of up to 4 meters per second were recorded around the site, and a wave advisory was in place. The group did not set standards for wind speed or wave height for making a decision to cancel ship operations. A nearby resident in his 80s said that areas around the accident site are “dangerous because of strong waves” and that the boats were “too small” to operate safely. According to the high school, the teacher who accompanied the students did not board either boat due to poor health while leaving the decision on whether to depart to the boats’ captains. Kikuo Nishida, head of the school, told a press conference the day after the accident, “I think there was a lack of awareness and proper judgment.” On March 24, the high school held a briefing session for parents. Takeishi’s mother tearfully asked, “Why did you put them on a fragile ship?” Many participants also criticized the lack of safety consideration. To prevent a recurrence, the education ministry plans to interview officials of Doshisha, the educational institution that runs the high school, suspecting that there were flaws in communication between parents and the school, and the supervision by the accompanying teacher. The transport ministry has launched its investigation because the civic group has not registered its boat operations as a business under the maritime transportation law. The group claimed that the boats have been used for volunteer activities. “Generally, investigation takes time for cases of professional negligence resulting in death or injury, due partly to the need to examine (a lot of) materials,” a senior official of the JCG’s 11th regional headquarters said. “In this case, a number of people were on the boats, so we need to interview many aboard,” the official added, suggesting that the investigation will take a long time. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]