Seiichi Katsurada, president of a Japanese sightseeing boat company whose vessel Kazu I was involved in a deadly 2022 accident, enters the Kushiro District court for sentencing in Kushiro City on June 17, 2026.
The head of a Japanese sightseeing boat company was sentenced to five years in jail on Wednesday over the 2022 sinking of a vessel that killed at least 20 people, the local court said.
An investigation faulted a deck hatch and improper maintenance aboard the Kazu I, which was carrying 24 tourists and two crew when it sank off the northern island of Hokkaido.
Twenty bodies were recovered and six people are still listed listed as missing after the April 23, 2022 incident off the Shiretoko Peninsula famous for its wildlife and scenery.
On Wednesday, the Kushiro District Court "handed down five years in jail" to Seiichi Katsurada, president of the Kazu I's operating company, a court spokesman told AFP.
