Related news
- U.S. Coast Guard unleashes cannon fire on abandoned Japanese ship
- Japan nuclear disaster: areas to remain off-limits for decades
- Renewed concern over nuclear response following atomic bomb anniversary
- Japanese nuclear plant operators ordered to compensate affected families amid calls for prime minister to resign
- Crisis at stricken Japan nuclear plant escalates to level of Chernobyl; six killed in aftershock
- Australia to lose $2 billion due to Japanese disasters
- Japanese nuclear officials race to avoid disaster as radiation levels in sea rocket
- Situation at damaged nuclear power plant remains 'very grave', says Japanese Prime Minister
- Japanese earthquake death toll surpasses ten thousand
- Japan raises severity level of crisis; efforts to cool damaged nuclear power plant continue
Collaborate!
Yesterday, the United States Coast Guard went through with its plans to fire its cannons on the Ryou-un Maru, a Japanese ship that was sent out to sea last year by the tsunami that hit Japan.
The Ryou-un Maru has made a journey across the Pacific Ocean from Hachinohe, Japan to the Gulf of Alaska and ended up about 180 miles from the Alaskan shore. Coast Guard spokesman Paul Webb said sinking the vessel would be "less risky than it would be running into shore or running into [maritime] traffic". The plan was for a Coast Guard cutter to hole the Ryou-un Maru with fire from a range of several hundred feet, and let it sink.
Prior to the sinking of the Ryou-un Maru, a Canadian fishing vessel claimed salvage rights. Webb said they would postpone their plans to sink the 164-foot Ryou-un Maru, to allow the 62-foot Bernice C to attempt to tow it; if the Canadians were not able to tow the abandoned vessel it would be sunk as planned.
After arrival the Canadians learned they could not tow the vessel and the Coast Guard proceeded with their plans. An HC-130 Hercules airplane observed the sinking of the Ryou-un Maru and warned ships in the area of a "live fire exercise". A Coast Guard cutter firing a 25mm cannon sank the Ryou-un Maru, which had been scheduled to be scrapped prior to the 2011 tsunami.
Officials said they didn't know how much diesel fuel the vessel, which could hold over 2,000 gallons, was carrying. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Environmental Protection Agency looked into this issue and came to the conclusion that sinking the ship and letting the fuel evaporate in open water was the best course of action.
According to Alaska state health and environmental officials, tsunami debris should not cause significant concern of radiation contamination to the shores of Alaska.
Have an opinion on this story? Post it!
[edit] Related news
- "8.9 magnitude earthquake hits Japan, causes tsunami" — Wikinews, March 11, 2011
[edit] Sister link
[edit] Sources
- AP. "Coast Guard fires on Japanese "ghost ship"" — CBS News, April 5, 2012
- Mark Thiessen and Rachel D'Oro (AP). "Canadian fishermen claim rights to Japanese ship" — The Seattle Times, April 5, 2012
- Miguel Llanos. "Coast Guard cutter fires at tsunami 'ghost ship' in bid to sink it" — MSNBC, April 5, 2012
 Share this:            |
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire
Nous vous invitons ici à donner votre point de vue, vos informations, vos arguments. Nous refusons les messages haineux, diffamatoires, racistes ou xénophobes, les menaces, incitations à la violence ou autres injures. Merci de garder un ton respectueux et de penser que de nombreuses personnes vous lisent.
La rédaction