Japan ghost ship

[rumrunner]

Why is there not a salvage company going out and hooking ono the ghost ship and bring it into shore and salvage it? Get it out of the shipping channel and make things safer. There must be some things on there that would be worth there time and money. Make it a join effort between Usa, Canada and Japan. Stop the problem before it becomes a problem.

[10Sne1]

A link would be helpful.

[grammafreddy]

http://www.castanet.net/news/BC/73324/T ... ifts-north

Tsunami ghost ship drifts north
by The Canadian Press - Story: 73324
Apr 2, 2012 / 4:04 pm



Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
A Japanese fishing boat lost in the Pacific Ocean after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami was sighted March 20 drifting 150 nautical miles of the southern coast of Haida Gwaii by the crew of an aircraft on a routine surveillance patrol. The coast guard in Alaska is preparing for a 54-metre ghost ship drifting aimlessly in the Pacific Ocean to float into U.S. waters.THE CANADIAN PRESS/ho-Department of National Defence

A large and rusting ghost ship floating aimlessly off the Pacific coast is drifting towards Alaskan waters, setting off a series of tactical steps by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The unmanned 54-metre fishing vessel is at the forefront of tons of debris heading across the Pacific Ocean from last year's massive tsunami in Japan.

The ship is about 150 kilometres west of the northern most tip of Haida Gwaii, or the Queen Charlotte Islands, off British Columbia's coast and appears to be heading north.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley said Sunday the coast guard dropped a data marker on the ship Saturday so they would have a constant, real-time, position on the vessel.

Mosley said the key concern is if the ship moves north west over top of Haida Gwaii and into the body of water that divides Canada and the United States.

"Dixon Entrance ... is a pretty heavily travelled area for cargo ships, fuel ships, even cruise ships in the summer, so we have to be aware of what the overall danger is to the maritime traffic as well as the maritime environment," he said.

"It has the potential to be a hazard, especially with the unknown of what's on board, the direction that the vessel could be travel."

The vessel was swept out to sea along with an island of other debris when the tsunami hit Japan after the magnitude-9 earthquake struck last March.

Officials say the boat is a former squid fishing vessel that was based out of Hokkaido, Japan. It was located in the Oshawa Seamount area.

At first officials thought the ship was bound for Canadian waters, but Mosley said it now appears to be on a northerly course towards Alaska.

"All that superstructure up above the water line acts like a sail on a sailboat. If it's a good northerly wind, it will push it," he said. "Depending on the direction it goes, that's the window of time we have to respond to operate and ensure the safety of commercial vessels and the environment."

Mosley said a U.S. Coast Guard cutter would be sent out this week to assess the condition of the vessel.

"So we're looking at do we work with other government agencies to go out and just sink it while it's still well off shore, or do we need to arrange to have a vessel come out and take it into tow and dispose of it in a way other than just going out and scuttling it. Those are all different things we have to look at."

In Canada, several government departments are watching the drifting vessel including Transport, Environment, Fisheries, Public Safety and National Defence.

A Transport Canada spokeswoman said marine currents and winds could make the vessel's destination very unpredictable and a warning has been issued to mariners to watch for the potential hazard.

"We will ensure that it does not wash ashore on the Canadian coast," Sau Sau Liu said.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous story said the ship was named the Oshawa Seamount.
The Canadian Press

[NAB]

Much easier and less expensive to just blow a hole in its hull and sink it. Maybe one of our "new" submarines could use it as torpedo target practice - if they can manage to get one to function long enough to get out there.

Nab

[Queen K]

Tow it in or sink it.

I guess that depends upon how "valuable" it is to the owners who don't seem exactly hurrying up to send a posse in to get it.

[grammafreddy]

Wonder how radioactive all that stuff is ...............

[10Sne1]

It left Japan before the fallout.

[sobrohusfat]

It left Japan before the fallout.

...full of fish in the hold?

...nobody wants to get close to it now?

...le poisson du stink?

[Drongoman]

Much easier and less expensive to just blow a hole in its hull and sink it. Maybe one of our "new" submarines could use it as torpedo target practice - if they can manage to get one to function long enough to get out there.

Nab

heh heh thanks for the chuckle, that was a good one.

[NAB]

An unmanned Japanese fishing vessel that was cast adrift following last year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami has likely seen its last day as the U.S. Coast Guard makes plans to sink the vessel as it nears the shores of Alaska.

http://www.timescolonist.com/index.html

Yup, wait long enough and uncle sam will look after it as usual ;-) Missed a chance to use one of our rust bucket subs for something useful ;-) Britain should be giving us our money back IMO, and we should cast the damned things adrift and let the US use them for target practice too..
Nab

[dogspoiler]

Don't pick on our subs, we've got to have something in the navy that's not in danger of sinking.

[dogspoiler]

Does anyone find it strange that in this era of Green Iniatives, recycling, and good enviornmental practices, the only thing that can be done with this ship is to sink it ?

[Bsuds]

I believe it was going to be recycled before it made it's escape.

[bottleman]

Does anyone find it strange that in this era of Green Iniatives, recycling, and good enviornmental practices, the only thing that can be done with this ship is to sink it ?

Ships are purposely sunk all the time to create reefs for marine life. This one was already destined to be scrapped before the disaster so it likely had little or no fuel in it.

[Phoenix Within]

Don't pick on our subs, we've got to have something in the navy that's not in danger of sinking.

If they wanted reliable subs, they should have bought the ones from West Edmonton Mall when they retired them!