Sea Monster

Coast guard sinks ghost ship

SeaMonster reader Eric sent in this piece about the controversial decision by NOAA and the US Coast Guard to sink a “ghost” ship that was released from Japan by last years tsunami. It seems to me it would have been good to remove the fuel from the ship before sinking it, although maybe the fire burnt most of it off,  minimizing environmental harm.  Regardless, I can see why the Coast Guard wouldn’t want this thing floating around. However, it would have made a good platform for Survivor XXI: Lost at Sea.  

The Japanese ship, Ryou-Un Maru, floated across the Pacific Ocean after it was ripped from its moorings by the tsunami last March. It is floating roughly 195 miles south of Sitka in the Gulf of Alaska.

Coast Guard officials decided to sink the ship amid fears that it could disrupt traffic as it drifted through shipping lanes or spill fuel from its 2,000 gallon tank should it run aground.

The decision came after a review by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency determined the best course of action would be to sink the ship with cannons and let any fuel evaporate in the open water.

Read the full piece here.

Also see Coming to America: Massive Debris Patch From Japanese Tsunami

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John Bruno

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One response to “Coast guard sinks ghost ship”

  1. Chris Petrone

    They should have auctioned off the opportunity to fire the cannon on that thing! People would have been coming out of the woodwork for the opportunity to be the “scuttle shot”–and it could have raised money for some cause.

    I find putting random people off the street in charge of massive ordinance is “always a good decision!”

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