Photo/Illutration Transport ministry officials enter the Shiretoko Pleasure Boat office to conduct a special audit in Shari, Hokkaido, on April 24. (Kengo Hiyoshi)

The president of a sightseeing tour boat company said in a statement that the government shares some of the responsibility for a fatal tour boat accident off the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido in late April.

Seiichi Katsurada, president of Shiretoko Pleasure Boat that operated the Kazu I, did not attend a hearing held by the transport ministry on June 14 to explain how and why the tragedy occurred before the government revokes the company’s license to operate.

Instead, his representative reportedly submitted the statement in the name of the president on June 13.

In the letter, Katsurada complained about losing the license, saying “it is not right to hold only our company responsible” and claimed that the government, which was the supervisory authority, also shares some responsibility for the accident, according to the Hokkaido District Transport Bureau.

The transport ministry will soon decide to officially revoke the license of the operator in light of the statement. This would be the first time a pleasure boat company gets its license yanked following a maritime accident.

If revoked, the company cannot obtain approval to operate from the government for two years.

The ministry had asked Katsurada to attend the hearing, but neither he nor anyone from his company took part. The statement was submitted the day before.

After the Kazu I sinking, which left 14 people dead and 12 others still missing, the ministry conducted special audits of the company.

The ministry found problems with the appointment of Katsurada as its operations supervisor and with the decision to set sail despite expected stormy weather.

Katsurada reportedly submitted a false report to the ministry that he had three years or more of hands-on experience operating boats, even though he had little experience of the sort.

The ministry announced that it would revoke the company’s license as it determined that the company would be highly likely to cause another serious accident.

Inadequate audits, inspections, and post-audit follow-ups by the government have been under the spotlight in this case.

The company had been placed under special audits and inspections without any advance notice after it caused two accidents last year. However, the tragedy occurred in April this year, showing that little had changed.

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