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Post by Steve on Apr 5, 2012 9:59:47 GMT -6
April 05, 2012 11:06 AM EDT In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the derelict Japanese fishing vessel RYOU-UN MARU drifts more than 125 miles from Forrester Island in southeast Alaska where it entered U.S. waters March 31, 2012. The vessel has been adrift since it was launched by a tsunami caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck Japan last year. (AP Photo - U.S. Coast Guard) April 05, 2012 11:06 AM EDT KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. 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 195 miles south of Sitka in the Gulf of Alaska on Thursday morning, traveling about 1 mile per hour. The ship holds more than 2,000 gallons 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 on Thursday with plans to fire cannons loaded with 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 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 Coast Guard is warning other ships to avoid the area. The vessel, named Ryou-Un Maru, is believed to be 150 to 200 feet 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, but Alaska state health and environmental officials have said there's little need to be worried that debris landing on Alaska shores will be contaminated by radiation. They have been working with federal counterparts to gauge the danger of debris including material affected by a damaged nuclear power plant, to see if Alaska residents, seafood or wild game could be affected. In January, a half dozen large buoys suspected to be from Japanese oyster farms appeared at the top of Alaska's panhandle and may be among the first debris from the tsunami.
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Post by skywalker on Apr 5, 2012 19:42:49 GMT -6
Why don't they just get in it and sail it back to Japan? Or at least offload all of the diesel fuel before sinking it? Or maybe sell it somebody who might want to buy it? I bet there is a lot of usable stuff on that boat. Why not let somebody salvage the darned thing?
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Post by plutronus on Apr 6, 2012 12:30:57 GMT -6
Why don't they just get in it and sail it back to Japan? Or at least offload all of the diesel fuel before sinking it? Or maybe sell it somebody who might want to buy it? I bet there is a lot of usable stuff on that boat. Why not let somebody salvage the darned thing? ??? I'm with you SkyWalker on this matter. When I first heard about on CNN, it occured to me that perhaps they should track down the owners and see if they want it! Plus, the sinking plan sounds like more clueless guvmnt thinking, when salvagers cutup ships and then sink them, they ALLWAYS clean out the petrochemicals so as to not harm the ecology of the ocean. 2000 Gals? What idiot are we paying to think that way? Tow into a port, put it up for bid and put it to bed the greenway.
plutronus
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 12:35:34 GMT -6
Why don't they just get in it and sail it back to Japan? Or at least offload all of the diesel fuel before sinking it? Or maybe sell it somebody who might want to buy it? I bet there is a lot of usable stuff on that boat. Why not let somebody salvage the darned thing? ??? I'm with you SkyWalker on this matter. When I first heard about on CNN, it occured to me that perhaps they should track down the owners and see if they want it! Plus, the sinking plan sounds like more clueless guvmnt thinking, when salvagers cutup ships and then sink them, they ALLWAYS clean out the petrochemicals so as to not harm the ecology of the ocean. 2000 Gals? What idiot are we paying to think that way? Tow into a port, put it up for bid and put it to bed the greenway.
plutronusI didn't vote for any of those buttheads we now have in office just so you guyz know... >:( I can't stand ANY of them...
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Post by Steve on Apr 6, 2012 13:13:41 GMT -6
I respectfully disagree.
Who is going to pay to sail the ship back? It no longer is registered to an owner. It doesn't likely have all the CG approved nav. and safety equipment aboard to make it so. Any salvage company is not going to take the loss, made so by the Tsunami. The fuel could be pumped off by salvagers - but you likely cannot legally re-use that fuel - now considered questionable - contaminated by salt water - grime - who knows.
The fuel is refined diesel, not bunker crude. Diesel only floats on the surface, since sea water is denser. Remember the old war movies with the burning fuel? The film heroes always swim under the flames to escape. It will evaporate in only a few days off the ocean surface. I have helped as a volunteer rescuing and cleaning enough sea birds from one or two oil spills in my time to know. NOAA and the EPA gave their okay. It falls in-between the cracks legally and financial practicality.
Vote out of office whom? Fortunately elected officials have nothing to do with this any more than a city major arrests people for breaking the law or puts out fires.
A few 3" rounds at the waterline should sink her in minutes - a menace to safe navigation.
Steve
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 14:52:28 GMT -6
Ok, but someone better keep some accurate records. I can just hear my great-granddaughter telling her friends that a Japanese ship that was purposely sunk in 2012 (bombed ?) has just been found in American waters. . . Lol.
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Post by skywalker on Apr 6, 2012 21:13:18 GMT -6
I think it is a sad state of affairs when something that was once probably a multi-million dollar boat is now completely worthless. They should at least try to get some value out of it. Maybe they could turn it into an artificial reef...or how about letting some movie company blow it up and film it? Surely there is some movie company out there that would like to save a little money by sinking somebody else's boat. Let the military use it for target practice. Something...anything? This really annoys me for some reason. Such a waste.
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