Plumes of smoke rise from Ryou-Un Maru under fire from the Cutter Anacapa Photo: Petty Officer Second Class Charly Hengen/AP

We posted recently about the discovery of the 164′ Japanese fishing vessel, Ryou-Un Maru, which had been carried out to sea from the port of Hachinohe, a year ago by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The ship was found drifting 120 miles off Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada.  The ship continued to drift at about one knot toward the North American coast.

The US Coast Guard decided that the drifting ship, with no lights or communications, was a hazard to navigation and dispatched US Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa to sink the ship with cannon fire.  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 in international waters.

The Cutter Anacapa held its fire and stood down to allow the Canadian crew an opportunity to take the stricken ship in tow.  It became evident, however, that the Bernice C lacked the horsepower to tow the drifting ship. After giving the Bernice C time to clear the area, the Cutter Anacapa opened fire on the derelict fishing boat with high explosive ammunition.  Following the firing, the Anacapa doused the fires set on the fishing boat and accelerated the sinking by filling the derelict with water.  The fishing vessel sank in 6,072 feet of water 180 miles west of the Southeast Alaskan coast. The Coast Guard reports that “light sheening and minimal debris have been reported from the sinking of the vessel, and the sheening is expected to quickly dissipate at sea.”

Coast Guard cannons sink Japanese ghost ship drifting since last year’s tsunami

Thanks to Phil Leon for passing the story along.

US destroys tsunami ‘ghost ship’ with cannon fire

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