US to sink ailing ship dislodged by tsunami
Source: Agencies |
April 6, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE United States Coast Guard plans to use explosives to sink a derelict Japanese ship dislodged by last year's massive tsunami.
The shrimping vessel, which has no lights or communications systems, was floating about 315 kilometers south of Sitka in the Gulf of Alaska yesterday morning, traveling about 1.61 kilometers per hour.
The ship holds more than 7,500 liters of diesel fuel, and authorities are concerned it could interfere with the course of other vessels as it drifts through shipping lanes. A Coast Guard cutter was headed out to the ship yesterday with plans to use high explosive rounds to sink the vessel.
If left to drift, the ship would ground somewhere, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Charley Hengen. "It's safer to mitigate the risks now before there's an accident or environmental impact," Hengen 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 vessel, named Ryou-Un Maru, is believed to be 45 meters to 60 meters long. It has been adrift from Hokkaido, Japan, since it was launched by the tsunami caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck Japan last year. About 5 million tons of debris were swept into the ocean by the tsunami.
The Japan earthquake triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl accident in 1986.
The shrimping vessel, which has no lights or communications systems, was floating about 315 kilometers south of Sitka in the Gulf of Alaska yesterday morning, traveling about 1.61 kilometers per hour.
The ship holds more than 7,500 liters of diesel fuel, and authorities are concerned it could interfere with the course of other vessels as it drifts through shipping lanes. A Coast Guard cutter was headed out to the ship yesterday with plans to use high explosive rounds to sink the vessel.
If left to drift, the ship would ground somewhere, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Charley Hengen. "It's safer to mitigate the risks now before there's an accident or environmental impact," Hengen 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 vessel, named Ryou-Un Maru, is believed to be 45 meters to 60 meters long. It has been adrift from Hokkaido, Japan, since it was launched by the tsunami caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck Japan last year. About 5 million tons of debris were swept into the ocean by the tsunami.
The Japan earthquake triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl accident in 1986.
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