A tourist boat with 26 people on board went missing on Saturday off the coast of northern Japan. This happened after a distress call was made from the vessel that the ship was sinking. This has been announced by the Japanese coast guard, Reuters news agency reported.
Patrol ships, planes and divers have been searching for the boat or people on board for more than ten hours – without result. The search will continue through the night from Saturday to Sunday, according to the Coast Guard. At this time of year, the water temperature in the area is just above freezing. High waves were reported around the area on Saturday.
Listing
A distress call was made from the Kazu I vessel on Saturday, reporting that part of the vessel had been submerged and the boat had begun to list. Since then it has not been possible to contact the people on board. The ship was on a tourist trip from the Shiretoko Peninsula, which is located in the northeast of the island of Hokkaido.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has aborted a two-day meeting in the south of the country and is returning to Tokyo to deal with the missing boat.
