US Coast Guard sinks Japanese ghost ship
OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA: A US Coast Guard cutter poured cannon fire into a Japanese ghost ship that had been drifting since the last year’s tsunami, sinking the vessel in the Gulf of Alaska and eliminating the hazard it posed to shipping and the coastline.
The cutter’s guns tore holes in the 50m Ryou-un Maru on Thursday, ending its long, lonely journey across the Pacific that began when the deadly tsunami set it floating more than a year ago.
The crew pummelled the ghost ship with high explosive ammunition, and the derelict Ryou-un Maru soon burst into flames, and began taking on water, officials said.
A huge column of smoke could be seen over the gulf as a Coast Guard C130 cargo plane, sent to observe the sinking, dropped a buoy to monitor for any possible pollution.
The Coast Guard warned mariners to stay away, and aviation authorities did the same for pilots.
In about four hours, the ship vanished into the water, said Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow in Juneau.
It sank into waters more than 1,830m deep, about 290km west of the southeast Alaska coast, the Coast Guard said.
Officials decided to sink the ship rather than risk the chance of it running aground or endangering other vessels in the busy shipping lanes between North America and Asia.
The ship had no lights or communications system, and its tank was able to carry more than 7,570 litres of diesel fuel.
The ship was in Hokkaido, Japan, and destined for scrapping when a magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck the country in March last year triggered a tsunami. The waves dislodged the vessel and set it adrift. — AP