March 26, 2012

• Tsunami Ghost Ship

  
  After a rusty “ghost ship” was spotted last week by off the coast of Haida Gwaii, Canadian authorities have now officially confirmed that debris from the March 2011 Japanese tsunami is approaching Canadian waters.

  “It’s been drifting across the Pacific for a year, so it’s pretty beat up,” said marine search co-ordinator Jeff Olsson of Victoria’s Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

  Air crews swooped down to survey the decks and signal any potential occupants — but received no replies. Canadian authorities used the vessel’s hull numbers to track down its Japanese owner, who confirmed nobody was aboard. “We know nobody’s in danger,” Mr. Olsson said.

  The vessel, a squid-fishing boat, was moored at the Japanese port city of Hachinohe when the tsunami hit. Spotted by a routine coastal air patrol, the 45-metre ship was found drifting right-side-up about 260 kilometres from Cape Saint James on the southern tip of Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), off the coast of British Columbia.

  • 6:56 pm
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