Boat swept away by tsunami sighted off Canada

A Japanese fishing boat lost in the Pacific Ocean after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami was sighted March 20, 2012 drifting 150 nautical miles off the southern coast of Haida Gwaii near British Columbia, Canada. / AP/Canadian Dept. of National Defense via Canadian Press

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - A large fishing vessel swept away by the tsunami that devastated Japan last year has been spotted adrift off British Columbia in western Canada.

Jeff Olsson of Victoria's Joint rescue coordination center said an airplane contracted by the government spotted the 50-foot-long vessel recently about 160 miles west of Haida Gwaii, slowly drifting toward shore.

The vessel has been identified as coming from Hokkaido, Japan.

The Vancouver Sun reports no one is believed on board, according to the ship's owner.

The vessel is one of several Japanese ships swept away by the March 11, 2011 tsunami that are being tracked by authorities, as the debris field edges closer to North America.

About 5 million tons of debris were swept into the ocean the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan.

Olsson said there is no environmental danger from the ship. But a maritime warning has been issued because the vessel could pose a navigational hazard.

[Barrett13]

I'm sure a <a href="http://taylorandblair.com/personal-injury.html">vancouver BC lawyer</a> was assigned to this case to. Sort of standard I would assume given that this took place in Vancouver, however one can only guess in today's world. I hope is was Vancouver.

[rottenideas]

It will be sunk. Too expensive to do anything else. Good target practice for the Royal Canadian Navy.

[ksmit2]

Was everyone on board accounted for. This is pretty creepy.
That sure looks alot longer than fifty feet. I thought that vessels
this size required bilge pump removal of seepage and wavewater
accumulation on a regular basis. Odd to see that much metal floating
thousands of miles like plastic toy or something.

[NinthSt78]

They need to paint their rusty bucket-- again...

[jimtx-wordpress]

Couldn't someone just go get on this thing and get the engines running and salvage it? Wonder what the salvage laws are regarding abandoned vessels.
I want this boat. My own ghost ship!

[Mathion]

Maritime law says that if it's abandoned on the ocean, it more or less belongs to whoever brings it in. Rightful owners have to pay reparations and expenses to the party that recovered it, if they want it back. Most owners will simply abandon it because the insurance companies have already paid them for the loss of the vessel.

Besides, from the look of her, it may actually cost more to repair it to the specs needed to perform it's designed function than it would be to just buy and equip a new ship.

On the other hand, if you're looking for an obviously sea-worthy craft to own as a storied and well traveled yacht...

[freischutz]

Is there no one on that coast with a salvage tug?

[Rescue Squirel]

Wow, that's a lot of vessel for 50 feet (oops!)... love to tow it to Southern CA and sink it offshore as a reef for the fish!

[rwsmith29456]

Better get somebody to come tow it back before it runs aground.

[riteousone]

May be the owners can retrieve it and put it back to use thus helping themselves and their employees.

[venusvegasvada]

No, that's the Newt Gingrich campaign's command vessel.

[canislupus16]

Good one. And the analogy is a perfect fit.