Surviving families sue operators over boat accident on Hokkaido

The relatives of the victims of an accident involving the Kazu I excursion boat off Hokkaido in 2022 sued the boat’s operator and its president for damages on Wednesday.

In the lawsuit filed in the Sapporo District Court, the plaintiffs, including 29 family members of 14 passengers on the sunken boat, are seeking damages of about 1,499 million yen ($9.2 million) from Shiretoko Yuransen, the boat’s captain based in the city of Shari on Hokkaido, and its president, 61-year-old Seiichi Katsurada.

On the afternoon of April 23, 2022, the boat sank off the coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula in eastern Hokkaido. 20 passengers and crew members on board were killed and six others are missing.