NIPPON



 

Kyushu Railway Co., or JR Kyushu, is considering withdrawing from a ship route between Japan and South Korea, over a scandal in which a subsidiary covered up a water leak incident on a high-speed passenger ship, it was learned Friday.

In August this year, JR Kyushu said that the subsidiary, JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Inc., had been covering up the water ingress, while operating the Queen Beetle high-speed passenger ship linking the southwestern Japan city of Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, and the South Korean city of Busan, for over three months.

The JR Kyushu group has been working on raising safety awareness among employees, repairing the ship, and enhancing governance, with the aim of resuming the passenger ship operations.

Since the ship is made of aluminum, however, repairs by welding are difficult.

"While we are aiming for resuming the operations, we are also considering withdrawal from the business as an option," JR Kyushu President Yoji Furumiya told reporters.