Ryou-Un Maru

Ryou-Un Maru adrift near Alaska, 4 April 2012
History
Japan
Name: Ryou-Un Maru
Port of registry: Japan
Launched: c. 1982
Out of service: 2011
Fate: Damaged and sent adrift by tsunami in Japan, later sunk by naval artillery in Alaska
Status: Shipwreck
General characteristics
Type: Squid fishing boat
Tonnage: 150 tons[1]
Length: 30–50 m (98–164 ft)[1][2]
Propulsion: motor (diesel)

Ryou-Un Maru (漁運丸, Fishing Luck) (also Ryō Un Maru[3]) was a Japanese fishing boat that was washed away from its mooring in Aomori Prefecture by the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and drifted across the Pacific Ocean.[1][2] It was spotted a year later by a routine Royal Canadian Air Force air patrol about 150 nautical miles (280 km; 170 mi) off the coast of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.[1][4][5] The unmanned hulk entered U.S. waters on 1 April 2012, and, after salvage attempts failed, was sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard on 5 April 2012 to prevent the hulk from becoming a hazard to navigation.[6]

History

USCG directs streams of water at the Japanese vessel in Gulf of Alaska after it was shelled by the Anacapa. Holes from the shelling are clearly visible in the side of the fishing boat.

The Ryou-Un Maru, a fishing vessel in the Japanese merchant fleet, was originally built around 1982. It was owned by a Hokkaido-based fishing company and was used for shrimping or squidding.[1][7] After a long service career the ship's owner decided it was too old for continued use and moored it in Aomori Prefecture in Honshu pending sale.[1] When the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck in March 2011, Ryou-Un Maru broke free and was set adrift.[6]

Like most countries, Japanese law requires a ship be disposed of or dismantled properly before allowing its registration to be canceled. However, all parties assumed the vessel sank in the disaster, so the Japan Coast Guard granted the owner an exception.[1]

For over a year the Ryou-Un Maru drifted across the Pacific as a ghost ship. On 20 March 2012, it was spotted in Canadian waters by Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora aircraft. As its registration had been canceled, the ship no longer had a legal owner responsible for it. On 4 April 2012, the U.S. Coast Guard dropped a tracking buoy aboard as the vessel drifted approximately 170 nautical miles (310 km; 200 mi) southwest of Sitka, Alaska.[3] The next day, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa assessed the ship's condition.[8]

On 5 April 2012, the Canadian fishing vessel Bernice C attempted to salvage the stricken vessel,[6] but a ruptured fuel tank proved impossible to pump out and a tow failed.[9][10] The U.S. Coast Guard then determined that sinking the abandoned vessel was necessary to prevent it running aground or becoming a hazard to navigation.[6] The Anacapa fired upon it with a Mk 38 25mm autocannon, holing and sinking the Ryou-Un Maru in approximately 1,800-metre (6,000 ft) of water in the Gulf of Alaska 180 miles (290 km) off the coast of the Alaskan Panhandle.[6][11]

Composer Gabriel Lubell wrote a bassoon quartet in 2013 based on the story of Ryou-Un Maru. The work is titled The Curious Journey of the Ryō-un Maru and, while not literally interpreting any of the actual events that took place, reflects on the ship's life and fate.[12] Guitar composer Egle Sommacal wrote in 2015 a guitar track Ryou-Un Maru in his album "il cielo si sta oscurando"[13]

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the U.S. Coast Guard.

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Reynolds, Emma (30 March 2012). "Owner of Japanese ship that floated across the Pacific after tsunami doesn't want it back". Daily Mail. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 カナダ、漁船漂流で警戒呼び掛け　函館の男性「沈んだかと」 (in Japanese). Hokkaido Shimbun Press. 25 March 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Multimedia Release: Coast Guard overflight reconfirms position of unmanned Japanese vessel" (Press release). U.S. Coast Guard, 17th District Public Affairs. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  4. ↑ "'The ship proves that it's coming'". The Province. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Japanese boat washed away in tsunami spotted more than a year later". CNN. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Coast Guard cannon fire sinks Japanese ghost ship damaged in tsunami". New York Daily News. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "US Coast Guard sinks tsunami 'ghost ship'". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "U.S. Coast Guard to sink Japanese boat washed away by tsunami". CNN. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  9. ↑ CBC News, "The National", airdate: 5 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "Coast Guard cannons sink Japanese ghost ship drifting since last year's tsunami". Washington Post. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  11. ↑ Bouzane, Bradley; Ward, Doug (5 April 2012). "Japanese 'ghost ship' sinks near Alaska". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  12. ↑ Lubell, Gabriel (2013-04-21). "The Curious Journey of the Ryō-un Maru". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  13. ↑ il cielo si sta oscurando (2015). "Il cielo si sta oscurando". ch3o. Retrieved 2015-02-27.

Coordinates: 55°01′N 138°48′W / 55.017°N 138.800°W / 55.017; -138.800

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