Channels

Photo: AP
Japanese fishing boat
Photo: AP

Boat accident may dent Israel-Japan ties

Zim spokesman Rani Rahav says, “If it will be found that Zim Asia was involved in this unfortunate accident, the company will claim responsibility. Initial investigation points that Israeli ferry is most likely responsible for deadly accident

Zim spokesman Rani Rahav sent a press release Sunday saying, “If it will be found that Zim Asia was involved in this unfortunate accident, the company will claim responsibility,” adding that Zim representatives have been sent to Japan to oversee, along with the Japanese Coastal Guard, the probe into the incident.

 

“Zim is fully cooperating with the Japanese Coastal Guard and authorities,” Rahav said in the statement.

 

“The crew’s initial report indicates that they did not sense any contact with another ship. It is estimated that a 19-ton fishing boat flipped over between 1:30 – 3:00 a.m. on September 28. Seven crew members were killed, and one survived. The Zim cargo ship was one of 15 ships in the area when the fishing boat reportedly flipped over.”

 

A Zim employee told Ynet, “The accident took place at night and it was dark. We are sticking to our claim that the crew did not detect a collision, but if the ship was involved in the incident, we will claim responsibility.”

 

The Israeli Embassy in Tokyo is closely following reports in the Japanese and Israeli media that seven Japanese sailors were killed when their boat clashed with an Israeli ship.

 

'It is forbidden for us to contact Japanese Coastal Guard'

 

According to reports, a commercial ferry belonging to shipping firm Zim Asia clashed with a Japanese fishing boat in the northern Japanese sea, close to Hokkaido Island. From the intensity of the clash the Japanese boat, which weighs a mere 19 tons, was knocked over by the 4000-ton commercial ferry.

 

Seven sailors lost their lives on the scene. Japanese Coastal Guard, who managed to save one sailor, reported that the Israeli ferry did not stop to help the struck fishing vessel.

 

Initially Zim denied any involvement in the incident, saying that 16 ships were at the scene where the accident occurred and that the captain of Zim Asia confirmed his ferry had not clashed with another vessel.

 

The Israel Embassy in Tokyo said Sunday that as long as the Japanese authorities have not submitted an official complaint over the incident they have no right to take action.

 

A senior Israeli diplomat in Japan told Ynet that the Japanese authorities will not approach the Israeli Embassy as long as they don’t possess conclusive evidence that the Israeli ferry was involved in the accident.

 

Israel’s Ambassador to Japan, Eli Cohen, told Ynet: “We are in contact with the Japanese Shipping Administration yet most of the information we have comes from the media.”

 

“It is forbidden for us to contact the Japanese Coastal Guard as long as they have not approached us,” Cohen said.

 

Despite Cohen’s comments, officials at the Israeli Embassy have expressed fears that the delay in an official complaint to Israel regarding the accident strengthens suspisions that an Israeli ferry is responsible for the fatal accident.

 

The officials added that if true, the accident will embarrass Israel and dent the favorable atmosphere that characterizes Israeli-Japanese relations.

 

The Japanese daily Japan Times reported that the Unions of Japanese Fishermen reported that a radar belonging to its northern branch recorded a large ship deviating from its sailing track on Wednesday night, shortly before it came on collision course with a smaller ship.

 

Vessels have to stop and help

 

The Israeli ship is suspected of involvement because it was at the scene at the time of the accident and its size matches that of the ship detected by the radar. Japanese Fishermen who sailed near the scene on Wednesday night said that a large ship had approached their fishing grounds on Wednesday night and they were lucky to escape a clash with the large ferry that obliviously cut through the waters.

 

These testimonies have raised the suspicions of Israeli diplomats because they are congruent with testimonies by crew members of Zim Asia who said that they had felt no collision with another vessel.

The Israeli ferry, currently anchored at South Korea’s Posan port, is being inspected by the Korean Coast Guard who launched an investigation in accordance with a Japanese request to determine whether it carries signs of a crash with smaller vessels.

 

Initial findings have confirmed that the Israeli ferry carries the marks of a collision and a meter-long crack. The Japanese Coast Guard stress that only the Israeli ferry bares the signs of a crash. The Korean authorities have taken samples of the ship’s colored insulation material as well as records of its navigation track.

 

According to international sailing laws, vessels that spot others in trouble have to stop and help even if they bare no responsibility for the trouble.

 

Ako Jodo, a senior official at Ochosi Port in Japan, expressed rage at the vessel that clashed with a smaller fishing boat and fled the scene of the accident – an expression that is inconsistent with Japanese mannerisms.

 

Tokyo has no right to investigate international ferries

 

An expert in maritime accidents told Ynet on conditions of anonymity that large vessels usually don’t feel clashes with small ships.

 

“Current sailing systems do not allow sailors to detect all signs appearing on their screen. In fact the responsibility for accidents like these lies with smaller ships,” he said.

 

The accident is currently being investigated in a laboratory in Tokyo where color samples taken from the Israeli ferry and the sunk Japanese boat are being tested. Investigators will also analyze radar data and other naval information put at their disposal by the Japanese authorities.

 

Since the accident occurred in Japanese territorial waters, if it is in fact proven that it was Zim Asia that’s responsible for the accident, Tokyo has no right to investigate international ferries and therefore has to approach the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem with a request to launch an investigation in Israel.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.02.05, 14:36
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment