KUSHIRO, Japan - The president of a tourist boat operator was found guilty on Wednesday of professional negligence resulting in the deaths of 26 people on a vessel that sank off Hokkaido in 2022.
The Kushiro District Court sentenced Seiichi Katsurada, 62, to five years in prison. Katsurada's defense team, which argued he was not guilty of the charge as he could not have foreseen the sinking, immediately appealed the ruling.
The 19-ton Kazu I sank on April 23, 2022, during a cruise around the Shiretoko Peninsula, a World Natural Heritage site on Japan's northern main island. Katsurada was not onboard the vessel.
Presiding Judge Takeo Mizukoshi said Katsurada "could have foreseen an obstacle to safe operations" as bad weather was forecast on the day of the cruise, adding that his failure to cancel it led to the sinking.
Prosecutors have argued Katsurada violated his obligations to exercise due care by allowing the boat's sailing despite strong wind and wave forecasts.
In September 2023, the Japan Transport Safety Board said the sinking was caused by worsening weather conditions that made the ship rock repeatedly, allowing seawater to enter the vessel through an unclosed hatch near the bow and flood the engine room and other areas.
Katsurada's defense team said he had collected necessary information on the day of the accident and was unaware of a defect in the vessel's hatch, identified as having led to the sinking.
He was arrested by the Japan Coast Guard in September 2024 and indicted the following month by Kushiro prosecutors for allegedly causing the deaths of all 24 passengers and two crew members aboard, including six people still listed as missing.
