At least 10 people have been killed after a tourist boast went missing off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the Japan Coast Guard says.
They say the search is continuing in frigid waters for 16 others who were on board the Kazu 1 vessel.
Contact with the boat was lost after it said it was taking on water at 13:15 local time (04:15 GMT) on Saturday.
The Kazu 1 is believed to have been on a three-hour sightseeing voyage around the Shiretoko Peninsula.
The area is a designated UNESCO world heritage site, and boat trips are popular with tourists hoping to spot whales and sea lions as well as brown bears on the rocky beaches.
The crew managed to signal that the vessel was tipping at a 30-degree angle and starting to sink, according to Japanese media.
