posted 04-05-2012 08:32 PM ET (US)        

COAST GUARD TO SINK GHOST SHIP TODAY
Abandoned Japanese vessel judged to be significant safety threat
By Sam Pfeifle, online editor
4/5/2012
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa will today fire explosive rounds from its 25-mm gun and sink the Ryou-Un Maru, a Japanese fishing vessel that has been adrift since last year’s earthquake and resultant tsunami.

(Those WorkBoat readers who voted “scuttle” win the prize.)

“It’s unmanned, unlit, and it poses a significant threat to marine transportation because of that,” Coast Guard chief petty officer Kip Wadlow of the 17th District in Juneau, Alaska, told WorkBoat. “It’s drifting through a shipping lane that’s traveled by tankerships and cargo vessels right now, and because it’s unlit and unmanned it poses a significant threat, especially in low-visibility and nighttime conditions.”

The Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa will open fire on the Ghost Ship today.

So, the 110-foot Anacapa will be joined by a C-130 Coast Guard plane out of Kodiak, which will do a safety sweep of the area as a broadcast notice is put out to mariner, “making sure they’re notified about what’s going to happen,” Wadlow said.

“If there’s any vessels in the safety zone, the gunnery exercise will be postponed until the vessel reaches a safe distance away,” he said.

Are there concerns about environmental threats? Wadlow said the Coast Guard consulted with a number of local, state, and federal authorities, including the NOAA Fisheries Service, along with the Japanese government and the former owner of the vessel. “There could be up to 2,100 gallons of diesel fuel on board the vessel at this time,” Wadlow said, but “we’ve determined that the oil will – if any leaks out – will actually dissipate through normal wind and wave actions and poses no threat to any sensitive wildlife areas on shore.”

posted 04-06-2012 10:51 AM ET (US)            

From the local radio station, KINY 800 AM:
Coast Guard sinks Japanese ghost ship
OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says a Japanese vessel set adrift by last year's tsunami has sunk in the Gulf of Alaska, ending its long, lonely voyage across the Pacific Ocean.

Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow in Juneau says the ship sank about four hours after a Coast Guard cutter unleashed cannon fire at the abandoned 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru on Thursday. It burst into flames and took on water, and after a few hours, the cutter fired larger ammunition to finish the job.

The Japanese ship was dislodged by last year's tsunami. It was destined for scrapping when the Japan earthquake struck.

The Coast Guard decided to sink it, rather than risk the chance of it running aground or endangering other vessels.

Not sure what the author meant by "larger ammunition", the 25mm is the largest the 110 has.

Also, my guess, is that there was no radioactivity as the ship was sucked out to sea before there was a chance of contamination. Additionally, the GUNEX was delayed as a Canadian vessel claimed "salvage rights" and went aboard, then said, "Not worth it". For somebody to properly salvage and decontaminate it means somebody must take responsibility, nobody was willing, so GUNEX was the best option.

Here's a link on the story to the Anchorage Daily News:
[ulr]www.adn.com/2012/04/05/2408539/coast-guard-to-sink-ship-dislodged.html[/ulr]

posted 04-06-2012 11:33 AM ET (US)            

From the Juneau Empire story this morning, a CG LT reported: "About two hours later, the vessel hadn’t sunk and the cutter resumed shelling, Lt. Veronica Colbath said. This time, the Coast Guard used 50 mm shells."

The 110s carry the 25mm and 7.62mm. Pretty sure they con't carry .50 cals.

posted 04-06-2012 06:42 PM ET (US)         

The derelict vessel had drifted across the Pacific, the most visible piece of tsunami-related debris yet to arrive on the coast of North America. It was spotted by the Canadian Coast Guard in mid-March and then drifted into American waters last week.

U.S. officials deemed the shrimping vessel a navigational hazard and opened fire on Thursday with a 25-millimetre cannon. About two hours after the initial volley, the vessel hadn’t sunk and the Coast Guard cutter resumed shelling. This time, the Coast Guard used 50-mm shells.

Earlier on, plans to sink the ship had been put briefly on hold when a fishing vessel strayed too close.

“We don’t want to put anybody at unnecessary risk,” Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow said from Alaska. “Right now, the Coast Guard has postponed our plans.”

The ship held more than 7,500 litres of diesel fuel, and authorities were concerned it could interfere with the course of other vessels as it drifted through shipping lanes.

If it had been left to drift, the vessel could have run aground somewhere, raising the possibility of a fuel leak. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency studied the problem and decided it was safer to sink the ship and let the fuel evaporate in the open water.

The Coast Guard is warning other ships to avoid the area.

On Thursday the ship was drifting about 315 kilometres southwest of Sitka, putting it between Alaska’s Baranof Island and Canada’s Haida Gwaii. It was moving slowly, at only about 1.5 kilometres per hour.

The trawler, which had no lights or communications systems, is believed to be 45 to 60 metres long. It had been adrift from Hokkaido, Japan, since it was launched by the tsunami.

Based on Japanese data, an estimated 1.5 million tons of debris drifted out to sea after last year’s earthquake and tsunami. Much of it will sink, other parts will degrade into tiny pieces and some will get caught up in the garbage patch already drifting in the Pacific Ocean. But some will invariably arrive in North America.

What’s unclear is whether the shrimping vessel that drifted in last month is the vanguard of an influx of debris or simply the most identifiable piece of a stream of items that has been arriving for months.

A historical model used by NOAA officials had suggested that tsunami debris wouldn’t begin to appear until next year. But spokesman Ben Sherman said the administration is updating the model using real wind and weather data.

Although the new model won’t be ready for the next few weeks, it appears that items will arrive sooner than had been projected. Windy conditions make this particularly true of high-side items or those that ride high in the water, such as the shrimping vessel.