The Tenryu River boat tours in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, will end after 60 years because of a capsizing last August that killed five people, including the helmsman.
Tenryu Hamanako Railroad Co. on Thursday filed papers with the transport ministry's Chubu District Transport Bureau in Nagoya to end the tours on March 31. The tours have effectively been halted since the Aug. 17 accident.
"We are sorry for having caused such a serious accident," Shigeki Suzuki, president of Tenryu Hamanako Railroad, said after filing for the discontinuation. "I feel a grave responsibility for ending the tour boat service, an (important) tourism business" in the region.
The accident occurred when a boat carrying 23 people crashed into riverside rocks on the Tenryu River, lost control in whirlpools and sank from the stern. Four passengers and Kuniyuki Kitahashi, the helmsman, were killed in the accident.
Police investigating the accident for alleged professional negligence resulting in death believe Kitahashi failed to control the boat and the operator violated safety rules, because the two boatmen aboard the vessel had reportedly not made passengers, including children, wear legally required flotation gear due to the summer heat.