Sunken Boat Contacted Japan Coast Guard Via Passenger Cell Phone
Sources say a tour boat that sank off the coast of Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido notified the Coast Guard of its troubles via a passenger's cell phone.
The 19-ton "KAZU I" went missing off the Shiretoko Peninsula in northeastern Hokkaido during a cruise on April 23 with 24 passengers and two crew members on board.
Fourteen passengers have been found but all are confirmed dead. The boat was found on the seabed at about 120 meters below sea level on Friday.
Sources told NHK that a passenger's cell phone was used when the boat first contacted the Coast Guard shortly after 1:00 p.m. on the day of the accident.
The company that operated the cruise said it received the last call from the KAZU I at around 2:00 p.m. and it was made from a passenger's phone.
The operator registered a cell phone as mandatory equipment for communications as part of a state inspection conducted three days before the cruise.
The carrier network of the registered phone does not cover the entire area around the peninsula. But the boat still passed the inspection.
The Coast Guard is looking into the possibility the crew could not make a distress call using the registered phone.