Photo/Illutration Japan Coast Guard officials remove evidence from the Hokkaido office of Shiretoko Pleasure Boat in Shari on May 2. (Taku Hosokawa)

More details emerged of slapdash safety measures on the part of the operator of a pleasure boat that sank in icy waters off the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido last month with 26 people on board.

For starters, Seiichi Katsurada, the president of Shiretoko Pleasure Boat, should have been in the office on April 23 when the Kazu I pleasure boat departed on a wilderness sightseeing cruise expected to last around three hours or so.

As a result, the office was unmanned at times and no one was there to maintain regular contact with the skipper of the Kazu I, who set out despite advisories that weather conditions would deteriorate later in the day. Safety guidelines call for captains to check in with the office at designated points of cruise routes.

Failure to do so constitutes a breach of safety guidelines under the law.

Given that Katsurada was also in charge of checking on boat operations, he should have been in the office to ensure nothing was wrong with the vessel.

Katsurada detailed the irregularities in a document he distributed to families of the passengers and two crew members. No survivors have been found.

He admitted that he failed to carry out the required responsibilities and acknowledged that the tragedy could have been avoided if the guidelines had been followed.

Under the maritime transport law, pleasure boat operators are required to compile safety management guidelines and submit them to the government. Companies also are required to establish operation standards based on those guidelines. Katsurada admitted to not following both requirements.

If the person checking on boat operations is not in the office, an appointed deputy must be there to remain in constant contact with any pleasure boat putting out to sea.

Aside from the fact that no deputy was on hand, it emerged that an employee who did turn up at the office was not informed that the radio antenna that allowed communications with the Kazu I was broken.

The requirement to check in at designated points along the route is intended to inform those on land about wave and other conditions at sea.

The document noted that tours are supposed to be postponed or canceled if waves are gusting at 50 centimeters or if forecasts predict waves of 1 meter or more.

Katsurada has said he gave conditional approval to the captain to leave Utoro Port because it was decided wave conditions did not merit a postponement.

But Katsurada also apologized in the document for not ordering the boat to turn around early and return to port that morning to avoid an accident.

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