Search Continues With Unmanned Submersible Off Hokkaido
An unmanned submersible has been deployed in the ongoing search effort for missing people who were on a sunken tour boat off Hokkaido, northern Japan.
The "KAZU I" sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula during a sightseeing cruise on April 23. Of the 26 people on board, 14 people are confirmed dead and 12 others remain missing.
The Japan Coast Guard asked a salvage company to send the submersible, which arrived at the site on Saturday. A team began using the vessel for the search on Sunday.
The boat is lying on the seabed at a depth of about 120 meters.
Another vessel carrying specialized divers is expected to join the operation by the end of May to conduct a search inside the boat and to get information to try to salvage it.
Meanwhile the coast guard, Self-Defense Forces and others are still searching the sea around the peninsula and near Kunashiri Island. It is one of the four Russian-controlled islands which Japan claims as an inherent part of its territory.