The tour boat with 26 on board went missing with no sign of survivors after the ship issued a distress call

EMERGENCY crews are frantically searching for a tour boat that has sunk off the coast of Japan without showing the 26 passengers and crew on board.

The ship issued a distress call and claimed it was beginning to sink, but despite an eight-hour search, no one has yet been found.

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It was cruising off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido near the scenic Kashuni Falls near the Shiretoko Peninsula when it made the distress call.

The distress call was issued at 1.15pm local time (5.15am BST) on Saturday to say the 19-ton Kazu1 vessel had flooded the bow and was taking on water.

There were 24 passengers – including two children – and two crew members on board.

An official from ship operator Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise said he could not comment as he responded to calls from concerned passengers’ families.

The boat left Utoro harbor around 10:00 am on Saturday and was due to return to port at 1:00 pm.

High waves and strong winds were observed in the area around noon, according to a local fishing cooperative.

According to Japanese media reports, fishing boats returned to port before noon because of the bad weather.

The public broadcaster NHK said there was a warning of high waves of up to 3 meters high.

According to the operator’s website, the tour lasts about three hours and offers a scenic view of the west coast of the peninsula, including nature and animals such as whales, dolphins and the brown bear.

An official from ship operator Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise said he could not comment as he responded to calls from concerned passengers’ families.