Ten unidentified in a boat, 1943

Trying to figure out who these people were and where they came from.

Background: In May 1943 a boat washed ashore on a small island between Taiwan and Okinawa. Onboard were 10 bodies. A local Japanese doctor examined the bodies and determined that five were male, two female, and three couldn’t be determined. He also assessed that they were Caucasian, but as for their age he couldn’t determine except for one, a female about 18 years old who was the last to die, the others had been dead approximately 4 weeks and were in a pile at the bottom of the boat.

As for the boat, it had a nameplate “Erickson Alexander Company” and it had ballast tanks on each side. The boat was made of wood covered with metal and pointed at both ends, had a mast, two oars, and was about 25’ long. Onboard was a gyroscope.

I think the boat is the clue, does anyone know what type of boat this was or what it was used for? I can’t find anything on that boat company on the internet.

 

"I think the boat is a clue".................!!!! lol!! Not a lot else to work with!!
There was a Norwegian Shipping Company, Gustaf Erickson that seemed to specialise in operating old sailing ships on Australian grain runs to and from London.
Gustaf Erikson and his ships - London's docks and shipping - Port Cities
It's possible they may have been part of a crew of one of their sailing ships, perhaps 8 sailors and the Masters wife and daughter? Maybe the answer will lie with contacting Norwegian shipping sources?

 

There was an old tug in the navy named USS Andrew Erickson, stricken from the lists in 1919, but it was quite a bit larger than your craft.