In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the derelict Japanese fishing vessel RYOU-UN MARU drifts 160 kilometers off Forrester Island in southeast Alaska on Tuesday. The vessel has been adrift since it was swept away by the tsunami that struck Japan last year.
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Tamarama
That is amazing! I wonder if it has been spotted and reported many times since the Tsunami and has slowly made it's way accross the ocean.
Serrano
If no one wants that rust bucket, I'll take it!
alladin
The typical Japanese way of doing things!! I no longs find any use for it so I will abandon it and leave it to ruins.
paulinusa
It's larger than I thought and have to think it could be salvaged and at least worth more than scrap. But obviously the sticking point is ownership.
Mirai Hayashi
I would take that boat, call it Jenny and go into the shrimping business
jessebaybay
amazing that it has drifted all that way. I wonder if any other people had spotted it during its voyage. It would certainly be a modern day ghost ship if I ever seen one. haha.
paulinusa
Somehow I would think returning it to Japan would be difficult considering it's association with such a negative event (think of the recent article on JT about apartments where people died)
Dennis Bauer
makes me think of that rod steward song "sailing"
SimondB
I think I have read that the owner no longer wants it. Also, I believe that international law on salvage says something along the lines that anyone can claim it under certain guidelines. Perhaps someone else knows more. It is obviously seaworthy and although in need of a coat of paint must have some commercial value.
HowardStern
I doubt there is any question of ownership. The question is, when is the owner going to come over and clean up their mess? Why hasn't this been addressed at all? You cant just dis-own the boat then throw it away in the ocean. Not at least while the world watches.
Japan has a responsibility to clean up the mess. It's just a matter of time before the world starts demanding it.
paulinusa
"You cant just dis-own the boat then throw it away in the ocean."
Howard: I think you can.
tkoind2
HowardStern. I sincerely doubt that the world will demand anything of Japan. It was an epic tragedy and one that I am sure people around the world grasp and fully understand.
More likely waste arriving from Japan will be cleared and disposed of locally. Or there may be international collaboration to deal with larger problems.
I hardly think it is fair to portray this boat or any other debris as negligence. It is a rather heartless and narrow view of a very complex issue.
gogogo
Canada please return the ship home again
Yubaru
Food for thought; it is quite possible that the owner of the ship died on 3.11.
I agree with tkoind, to view this as negligence is just showing ignorance of the situation.
borscht
The owner didn't die. The owner is a corporation that filed papers saying they don't want it anymore. If anybody wants it they just have to get to it, throw a rope around it, and haul to a port of their choosing. Then, fix it up to make it seaworthy according to national laws. (It's obviously seaworthy in real terms as it has bobbed its way across the Pacific).
Erin Harder
There was an article here in Canada on this last week - the owner of the boat has already collected the insurance money on it and has given up his claim on the boat. So I suppose, technically, it is now owned by the insurance company.
Jan Claudius Weirauch
Before you salvage it, think of oils and chemicals on board which you would have to dispose properly you have to spend big $ before you can make money of scrap metal. Nobody want's this, that's why it's still there.
Foxie
This poor ship, abandoned, not knowing where to go next. I find this too cruel on her. She obviously is in a poor state, needs desperately anti-fouling. RIP
Alphaape
I wonder why the USCG doesn't just take the ship under tow? They normally slap huge fines on violators and this is a hazard to navigation in terms of other ships maybe running into it while underway. It is a big ocean, but having spent over 14 years of sea duty, you will be surprised at what can sneak up on you while out at sea in the middle of the night.
GW
if the waters its in are deep enough its probably best just scuttle it I think the term is, ie sink here & leave her be
Its unlikely these are worth the effort to scrap from a $$ point of view
cactusJack
They only scuttle when all fuel, oil, grease, etc. has been removed. Who is gonna do that?
Lunchbox
The exxon valdez was recently sold for scrap metal for US$16 million.
kiwi07
Taking ownership of the ship isn`t without potential trouble for any would be salvage company. Firstly, it will only be allowed into a port when the authorities have verified that it poses no threat (threat of fuel oil leaking, threat of sinking and blocking access for port access, etc). In many cases ships like these are unable to be brought to a port for this reason. This makes scrapping of it difficult. Scrapping a ship in a Western country is quite expensive due to the environmental safe guards (many have asbestos on board that needs to be professionally removed, as well as many other toxic products). Therefore most ships are salvaged in India (at great danger to the cheap labourers).
The fuel used by these ships is called L.F.O (Liquid Fuel Oil). It is not like gasoline, it is a very heavy almost mud like subtance that is quite toxic. So if it washes aground and breaks apart there is a very real risk of a small localised environmental impact on the bays or area of Alaska coast that it washes ashore on (New Zealand just had the Rena ship break apart and pollute a large strecth of coast line, but the M.V Rena was a much larger ship).
The real question is how much more stuff, and in what form, is coming across. If there is only this one relatively small fishing boat then it is a non issue. However if we are talking about potentially several boats, and in particular miriads of smaller objects that pose a threat to safe maritime navigation then it becomes an issue as to who pays for it.
Alphaape
Having worked in the military, and somewhat familiar with the USCG, I guarentee you that there have been hundreds of hours of planning sessions on this vessel, and Course of Action (COA) on how to handle this vessel. No doubt, the main thing holding them back are the lawyers. In my opinion, they should just take it under tow, and pull it into a port, inspect and sell for scrap. But to do that, they may face litigation from the owners (if they are still alive) in Japan, and possibly from the JN government if they want to make a claim to it for some reason.
I say just take the ship under tow, and tow it either to Alaska or back to Japan, and stop it from being a hazard to mariners.
kiwi07
As the owners have reliquished their rights to the ship and do not wish to have it back it officially becomes classified as derelict under maritime law. This at least reduces legal complications.
lostrune2
Make more money transporting boxes of chocolate.
NetNinja
The vessel could do very well with a spit shine. It's a fixer upper but it's still worth it's weight if it's been afloat unmanned this long.
What a nice opportunity for the U.S. Haul that sucker in, contact it's owners, bring the community out and get to scrubbing together.
I hope they take advantage of it.
TSRnow
It's a miracle this boat is still floating. I wonder if there are other boats like this?
wackness
Japanese government should tow this back here and launch it catapult-style at N.Korea. Now, that would be something worthwhile.
smithinjapan
The owner of the ship was contacted but he has already relinquished his rights to the ship. I'm with others on this one -- tow it to port, inspect it, then scrap it unless someone wants to buy it to remember what happened last year.
Knucklehead
I'll bet the crew is hungry by now.
darbysan
Must have been made in japan as it is still afloat
kwatt
I realized that ships, vessels, etc easily get rusty without good care. The owner would want to clean the vessel if he were alive and saw it.
motytrah
The insurance company most likely owns the ship now. If someone were to salvage it they would look at tugging it over to Asia where there aren't many pesky environmental laws to contend with.
KariHaruka
Urm you know the tsunami wasn't just a opportunity for people to of thrown stuff away into the ocean!
Fugacis
A derelict ship sent drifting off into the ocean after a major natural disaster, discovered a year later? It's a good setting for a ghost story if nothing else...
Chop Chop
No one wants it? Give it to me. Where can I collect this ship? I'm not joke but I'm very very serious. I'll start business straightaway between US and South America. You know it's good for our fellow Banana farmers from Bolivia and Colombia also peoples from Hollywood will happy too. They like Banana too much.
Nessie
It is my understanding that the owner had disowned it even before the disaster.
Wanda-kun
It's to be scuttled by the coast guard.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/US-to-sink-ghost-ship-dislodged-by-Japan-tsunami-3461405.php