Japanese Missing Boat Found Off Canada, 1 Year After Tsunami

[gatagato]

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 by the crew of an aircraft on a routine surveillance patrol. The vessel is considered an obstruction to navigation, and a Notice to Shipping has been issued by the Canadian Coast Guard.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/na...144117895.html
http://news.sky.com/home/strange-news/article/16195684

[güttsfükk]

be interesting to see some follow up on this one :)

[icheerthebull]

That’s some fine craftsmanship. I wonder where it was built

[mwt77932]

It's amazing that it didn't sink.

[kellyhound]

flying dutchman

[Insideoutbodies]

yea here in Canada we get all the good shit i was wondering if it was gonna be a big find like some fancy ass Japanese boat that had no practical use

[Pyramid_Head]

Was there anyone on it?

[gatagato]

Originally Posted by Pyramid_Head

Was there anyone on it?

Noone is believed to be on board the ship.

As a derelict Japanese fishing vessel lost after last year's tsunami approaches B.C.'s coast faster than anticipated, no efforts have been made to stop it

No plans to stop 'ghost ship' headed for B.C. coast

The internationally dubbed "ghost ship" was spotted earlier this week drifting 150 nautical miles off the southern coast of Haida Gwaii by a flight crew doing a routine aerial patrol, according to Transport Canada. The Japanese Coast Guard has confirmed that the boat's owner reported it missing after the March 11, 2011 tsunami.
Both Transport Canada and the Department of National Defence confirm no one is on board the ship.
Tofino Mayor Perry Schmunk, who lives thousands of kilometres south of Haida Gwaii where the vessel is headed, says the ship's sighting has caught his attention.
"It's a bit of a wake-up call. All the studies show that the bulk of what could come our way is still a year or two away, but it's a sign the timetable may be a little ahead of what everyone expects," Schmunk told CTV News.
He believes his community has already seen tsunami-related debris.
"We don't know if it's directly associated with the tsunami, but definitely the incidents of increase of Japanese debris continues to hit our beaches here locally," Schmunk said.
Transport Canada spokesperson Sau Sau Liu says Transport Canada, Environment Canada, the Department of National Defence and the Department of Fisheries and Ocean are all monitoring the vessel closely.
"There are currently no reports of marine pollution from the vessel," Liu added.
Oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer says the boat is an excellent case study for how a small island of material swept to sea by the tsunami should be handled.
"It's a precedent for getting all of our networks and all the institutions together to co-operate and get it right," Ebbesmeyer said.
But environmentalists warn more resources are needed to do that.
"All the agencies in Canada are understaffed and underfunded. So they're having trouble dealing with the stuff they have to deal with on a regular basis," Christianne Wilhelmson of the Georgia Straight Alliance said.
The coast guard warned mariners about the navigational risk on Wednesday, though it didn't notify the broader public.
"Not only do the agencies have to be talking to each other, they also need to talk to communities, prepare communities for this stuff arriving on the shore," Wilhelmson said.
Where and when the fishing ship could make landfall still isn't clear.
"At this time the vessel is quite far from shore and we are just monitoring to see where it goes," Liu said.
The Japanese owner of the vessel has been notified about its whereabouts.

Photos:

Famous ghost ships of recent times
After being flushed out to sea by last year’s massive tsunami and earthquake, a Japanese squid-fishing boat has drifted across the Pacific Ocean and is now about 120 nautical miles off British Columbia’s north coast. Have a look at some photos of other ghost ships to have disappeared - and reappeared - under mysterious circumstances.

The Carroll A. Deering. A five-masted commercial schooner that was found run aground off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in 1921, the Carroll A. Deering has inspired reams of pages of writing. One of the most famous maritime mysteries in history, its crew was never found, leading to claims that it had fallen victim to the Bermuda Triangle. Later evidence would suggest a mutiny or piracy.




The High Aim 6 was found drifting in Australian waters, 150 km east of Rowley Shoals. Its crew was missing.



The Bel Amica was discovered off the coast of the Italian island of Sardinia on August 24, 2006 (VEEERY close to my home). The Italian Coast Guard discovered the ship with no crew on board.




In 2006, the Jian Seng, an 80-metre tanker, was spotted drifting 180 km south-west of Weipa, Queensland in the Gulf of Carpentaria.




The Kaz II, popularly known as "the ghost yacht", was a 9.8-metre catamaran found drifting 163 km off of the northern coast of Australia in 2007. The fate that befell her small crew is not known.



When it became locked in the pack-ice near Seahorse Reef in Alaska, and thought destined to sink, the S.S. Baychimo, a Hudson's Bay cargo steamer, was abandoned. It, however, remained afloat and over the next 38 years was sighted several times.




The SS Valencia was an iron-hulled passenger steamer wrecked off the coast of Vancouver Island in 1906. Built in 1882 by William Cramp and Sons, the vessel weighed 1,598 tons and measured 77 m in length. The wreck is counted among the worst maritime disasters of the southwest coast of Vancouver Island, an area dubbed “the Graveyard of the Pacific” for its unforgiving conditions.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Pho...#ixzz1qD3TkINO

[icheerthebull]

^fucking great post! Wish I could thank it twice

[Sharon]

That is amazing! Like some creepy ghost ship. I just read about this on AOL earlier