The families of 14 victims of a fatal tourist boat accident off Hokkaido in 2022 that left 20 people dead and six missing filed Wednesday a damages suit against the ship operator and its president.
The 29 plaintiffs are collectively seeking about 1.5 billion yen ($9.3 million) in damages from the operator Shiretoko Yuransen and its president Seiichi Katsurada, 61, in the suit filed at the Sapporo District Court.
The Kazu I, which was carrying 26 people, sank on April 23, 2022, after departing for a three-hour cruise along the Shiretoko Peninsula, a World Natural Heritage site on Japan's northern main island, despite a forecast for bad weather.
Among the families of the missing, a 52-year-old man from Obihiro, Hokkaido, was able to join the suit after having his 7-year-old son, who was among the passengers listed as missing, officially declared dead.
Separately, the parents of Akira Soyama, a 27-year-old crew member who died in the incident, filed a damages suit in February last year against the company seeking a total of around 119 million yen at the Tokyo District Court. The firm has requested the case be dismissed.
Soyama's parents also filed a damages suit against the Japanese government and the Japan Craft Inspection Organization claiming the vessel's safety was not properly assessed.
The latest damages suit comes after a report released last September by the Japan Transport Safety Board revealed that the hatch toward the vessel's bow had not been properly closed before departure, and the boat was flooded after the hatch opened in the poor weather.
Katsurada has told reporters that he was not aware of any abnormalities with the ship. He apologized to the families in a letter last summer, adding that "the captain was responsible for inspecting the vessel."
The Japan Coast Guard is investigating the president on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death.
