As a resulf of the delay in departure, the person in charge of transport control gave the "Toya Maru" instructions to disembark passengers and vacate the berth. The Master, however, requested permission from the transport controller to stay alongside the berth, without disembarking her passengers and furthermore loaded trains from the "Seikan Maru No. 11" mentioned above, and embarked additional passengers.
At the Hakodate Pier, the barometric pressure showed 985.2 mb at 16:00 hours, with East winds of 10 to 15 m, and accompanying rain. At 17:00 hours on the same day, the atmospheric pressure fell to 982.6 mb and winds abruptly dwindled as patches of blue sky became visible through rifts in the clouds, taking on the characteristics of the eye of the typhoon. After that the patches of blue sky disappeared and the winds gradually veered to the SE and to the SSE, while gaining intensity.
Around 17:40 hours, the Master of the "Toya Maru" fixed her departure for 18:30 hours on the same day and announced it. At that time, however, such vessels as the patrol boat "Rishiri", the rail ferries "Seikan Maru No. 6" "Seikan Maru No. 11" and "Kitami Maru" and the merchant ships "Shinsei Maru No. 6", "Nanko Maru No. 4" and "Fukiharu Maru" stayed in the port of Hakodate, waiting to depart. Also in the port of Aomori, the rail ferries "Oshima Maru" and "Yotei Maru" postponed their departures.
Around 18:25 hours the Master of the "Toya Maru" went up onto the bridge and watched the "Ishikari Maru" have difficulty berthing alongside Pier No. 2 with the assistance of five tugs, but when he observed that the vessel managed to complete mooring to the pier, the "Toya Maru" left the berth at 18:39 hours with a total of 1,314 persons, in addition to 12 rail cars (a weight of about 313 tons) and 171 packages of mail on board. She drew 4.55 m forward and 5.05 m aft with a freeboard of 1.75 m aft under the following tank conditions: empty tanks - forepeak tank, Nos. 1 and 2 water tanks; full tanks - Nos. 3, 4 and 7 water tanks,and afterpeak tank; partially loaded tanks - about 105 tons of water in the No. 5 water tank, and about 15 tons of boiler feed water in the No. 6 water tank; about 60 tons in the port heeling tank and about 40 tons in the starboard. She proceeded toward the Breakwater West Entrance after passing the Hakodate Port No. 2 light buoy on her port side about 18:53 hourson the same day.
As she approached the breakwater, the Master found that the roughness of the sea waves was more than he expected. Saying, "This situation is dangerous and I am going to let go her anchor," he proceeded on a westward course for some time after passing through the West Entrance around 18:55 hours on the same day, while being carried leeward under the influence the strong wind. After making a port swing toward the eye of the wind, while using the engines variously, she let go her starboard anchor at 19:01 hours at a position 300｡?rue 0.85 mile from Hakodate Port Breakwater Light and veered her cable up to 6 shackles. Since the anchor did not hold her in position, the vessel let go her port anchor, too, and at 19:50 hours both anchors were paid out up to 8 shackles.
When the "Toya Maru" anchored, the sea was in such a situation that waves were breaking the aft end of the apron deck and the train deck only at times, but the wave height gradually increased thereafter and at about 19:30 hours the vessel, When pitching, came to scoop sea water on the aft train deck, with sea water beginning to flow on the same deck in the forward direction.
