The sunken Kazu I tour boat, covered with a blue sheet, is transported to Port Abashiri on a salvage barge on May 27. (Takahiro Kumakura)

Photo/Illutration The sunken Kazu I tour boat, covered with a blue sheet, sits on a salvage barge on May 27 off Utoro Port in Shari, Hokkaido. (Kazuyoshi Sako)

The Kazu I tour boat that sank off Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido was successfully hoisted aboard a barge in the early hours of May 27, after a previous attempt to retrieve it was unsuccessful. 

At around 2:30 p.m., the salvage barge carrying the boat arrived at Port Abashiri in the city of Abashiri, Hokkaido.

That will allow investigators to search the vessel in trying to determine the cause of the deadly accident. 

“The boat is one of the few valuable pieces of evidence we have to identify the cause of the accident,” said Atsushi Toyama, managing director of Marine Rescue Japan, a public interest incorporated association.

On May 24, the tour boat slipped out of the belts holding it and dropped to the seabed while being hung from the barge off Port Utoro in Shari.

It took about four hours for the salvage operation team to lift the boat again on May 26.

The boat was then held with ropes to the side of the barge.

The barge traveled to a shallower area in the evening, about seven kilometers shoreward. The team then pumped water out of the boat all night.

At around 3:20 a.m., the boat was hoisted aboard by crane to sit on the bow of the barge.

After arriving at Port Abashiri, the team is expected to pump the remaining water out of the boat and start checking the engine room and other areas to see if there are clues leading to those still missing after the tragedy.

The tour boat is expected to be put on land on May 29.

The Kazu I sank in late April with 26 passengers and crew members aboard. Fourteen bodies have been found and 12 people remain missing. 

The Japan Coast Guard and the Transport Safety Board will investigate the boat.

“It is difficult to speculate on the cause of the accident at this point just by looking at the scenes of the boat emerging out of the deep water because one can’t see the bottom of the boat,” said Toyama, who also has experience leading an investigation at the Japan Coast Guard.

An underwater vehicle took pictures of the body of the Kazu I before the boat dropped on May 24.

The sea floor where the boat fell on May 24 appears to be a sandy area, meaning “the impact of the fall on the body of the boat will be limited,” Toyama said.

A major focus of the investigation will be “where the water first flooded into the boat,” Toyama said.

Investigators will examine the condition of the boat, but it is possible the fall caused some damage.

“A careful investigation is needed to determine when the damage occurred,” Toyama said.

Shortly before the Kazu I sank, the boat crew told the Japan Coast Guard that the engine had stopped.

Toyama said checking the condition of the engine would make it possible to see if the engine had not been working before it was flooded.

Investigating items left behind inside the boat will also provide an important clue, he said.

For example, passengers’ smartphones may reveal the boat’s navigation route by checking the phones’ GPS functions.

Toyama said it is likely the Japan Coast Guard will have experts conduct an evaluation of the boat’s body. 

“Identifying the cause of the accident is difficult, and it will possibly take several months to six months or longer,” he said.

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