Hokkaido Boat Operator Gets 5 Yrs over Fatal 2022 Sinking

Kushiro, Hokkaido, June 17 (Jiji Press)--A district court in Hokkaido sentenced the president of a local sightseeing boat operator to five years in prison on Wednesday over a deadly boat sinking in the northernmost Japan prefecture in 2022.

Kushiro District Court found Seiichi Katsurada, 62, guilty of professional negligence resulting in death. The five-year sentence was in line with the prosecution's demand.

The defense, claiming that the Shiretoko Yuransen president is not guilty, immediately appealed against the ruling to an upper court.

The biggest focus in the trial was whether Katsurada, who was not involved in the navigation of the Kazu I boat, had been able to foresee the accident, which occurred off the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido on the afternoon of April 23, 2022. Of the boat's 26 passengers and crew members, 20 were confirmed dead and the other six went missing.

Handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Takeo Mizukoshi rejected the defense's claim, concluding that the accident was easily foreseeable.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]