prev
next
Coast Guard cannon fire sinks Japanese ghost ship
Updated 10:59 PM ET
(AP) OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA - The long, lonely voyage of the Japanese ghost ship is over.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter unleashed cannon fire on the abandoned 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru on Thursday, ending a journey that began when last year's tsunami dislodged it and set it adrift across the Pacific Ocean.
It sank into waters more than 1,000 feet deep in the Gulf of Alaska, more than 150 miles from land.
The crew pummeled the ghost ship with high explosive ammunition and, soon after, the Ryou-Un Maru burst into flames, began to take on water and list, officials said.
A huge column of smoke could be seen over the gulf.
The Coast Guard warned mariners to stay away, and aviation authorities did the same for pilots. A Coast Guard C-130 plane crew monitored the operation.
Boast swept away by tsunami sighted off Canada
Complete coverage: Japan tsunami disaster
In about four hours, the ship vanished into the water, said Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow in Juneau.
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 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Officials, however, didn't know how much fuel, if any, was aboard.
"It's less risky than it would be running into shore or running into (maritime) traffic," Webb said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency studied the problem and decided it is safer to sink the ship and let the fuel evaporate in the open water.
The ship was at Hokkaido, Japan, and destined for scrapping when a magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck the country in March 2011 triggered a tsunami.
The waves dislodged the vessel and set it adrift. In total, about 5 million tons of debris were swept out to sea.
The boat did not have any cargo aboard, Webb said. He said he didn't know who owned the Ryou-Un Maru, which had been traveling about 1 mph in recent days.
As the Coast Guard was readying to fire on the vessel, a Canadian fishing vessel, the 62-foot Bernice C, claimed salvage rights over the ghost ship.
Plans to sink it were halted so the Canadian crew could have a chance to take the stricken ship. A Canadian official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that the Bernice C was unable to tow it.
When the boat left the area, the Coast Guard began to fire, first with 25 mm shells, then a few hours later with ammunition twice that size.
In the year since the tsunami, the debris from Japan has washed up on shores across the Pacific.
In January, a half dozen large buoys suspected to be from Japanese oyster farms appeared at the top of Alaska's panhandle and may be among the first debris from the tsunami.
State health and environmental officials have said there's little need to be worried that debris landing on Alaska shores will be contaminated by radiation.
The earthquake triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl accident in 1986.
State officials have been working with federal counterparts to gauge the danger of debris including material affected by a damaged nuclear power plant, to see if Alaska residents, seafood or wild game could be affected.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Iran hangs alleged U.S., Israeli spies
- North Korea fires short-range missiles for second day
- Two imprisoned over killing Malcolm X's grandson
- Afghanistan to ask India for military aid
- Photos of the Week 21 Photos
- Assad: Syria transition talks are internal matter
- Plane catches fire on Moscow runway Play Video
- Dramatic video appears to show 747 crash in Afghanistan
Most Popular
-
01
-
02
-
03
-
04
-
05
Most Shared
Most Discussed
The ship probably has massive radiation and they didn't want to alarm people, because people would be freaked out that that same radiation is coming to the West Cost.
Smart!
Go USA!!!
If sinking a derelict fishing vessel had been some sort of war-time priority, it would have been blown to smithereens in one shot by a military vessel with much stronger firepower. But it wasn't.
And if the US had sent, say, an aircraft carrier to do the job, it would have been much more expensive, considered overkill, and people would've been screaming about the cost of THAT.
There's no pleasing some people.