Japanese 'ghost ship' sunk by U.S. Coast Guard off Alaska

A Japanese "ghost ship" cast adrift by last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami sank to the bottom of the ocean in the Gulf of Alaska on Thursday night after the U.S. Coast Guard pum-meled it with explosives.

The USCGC Anacapa levelled can-non shots at the derelict fishing vessel in a "slow and deliberate" manner to ensure accuracy, said Veronica Colbath, a coast guard public affairs officer.

The explosives were fired shortly after a failed salvage attempt by a Canadian fishing vessel that delayed the planned sinking.


U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer David Mosley said the sinking operation got underway after the morning delay, but the Ryou-Un Maru, which was cast adrift after last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, was not going down without a fight.

"We commenced our operation to sink it at about 1 p.m., Alaska time, and that included firing high-explosive rounds at the hull of the vessel," Mosley said. "The crew does this in a very slow and deliberate manner - picks a location, fires a few rounds, stops and evaluates.

The presence of another vessel, the Canadian Bernice C, in the area prevented a cutter from opening fire on the Japanese vessel earlier.

"When we went to initiate our safety zone in order to safely shoot at the boat . . . there was a fishing boat (the Bernice C) in that area," Mosley said.

"That vessel notified us that it would like to tow it and claim it for salvage, but were unable to. They have since left the area and our initial plans are back in action."

The Ryou-Un Maru was about 290 kilometres west of Sitka, Alaska, on Thursday. The sinking is being carried out for the safety of commercial shipping in the region.

"The vessel is an immediate hazard and danger to commercial ship-ping," Mosley said Wednesday. "It is in active shipping lanes and the vessel is unattended, it's unlit and we don't want to have an incident at sea where another vessel were to collide with it."

The intact, 65-metre "ghost ship" was first spotted March 20 off Haida Gwaii, B.C., by an airplane contracted by the federal government.

It was not thought to pose an environmental risk as it was not leaking fuel.

The vessel is the first verified debris to reach the West Coast since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, although more debris of varying sizes is expected to reach the region.

via Calgary Herald