A Japanese fishing vessel swept away by the March 2011 tsunami has been spotted adrift off the west coast of Canada.

An aircraft patrolling the seas off British Columbia saw the vessel, which is about 50-metre (164ft) long, floating 275km (170 miles) from the Haida Gwaii islands on Friday.

It is believed to be the first large item from the millions of tonnes of tsunami debris to cross the Pacific.

No-one is believed to be on board the ship, registered in Hokkaido, Japan.

Canada’s transport ministry is monitoring the vessel for marine pollution and to see if it becomes an obstruction.

The tsunami last March generated more than 25 million tonnes of debris, say researchers at the University of Hawaii. Between four and eight million tonnes were washed into the ocean, with one to two million tonnes still floating on the surface.

The main mass of the debris is not expected to make landfall in North America until March 2014.

Maria Cantwell, US senator for Washington state, said the boat was expected to drift slowly south.

“On its current trajectory and speed, the vessel wouldn’t make landfall for approximately 50 days,” Sen Cantwell said in a statement.

Yeh Source.

You know, I saw this too and wondered why authorities don’t get it out of the way or go on board to see if there are bodies, dangerous chemicals etc.  Everyone seems to think it’s just okay to let it drift around?

I think the smell of the fishing vessel would keep everybody and everyone stay away… far far away.
As in an other ocean.

The problem though is that this vessel could be contaminating the water too.  It just seems to be that it would be far more sensible and responsible to check it and not just assume anything.

Sounds like a good opportunity to test a torpedo…

Artificial reef for teh fishies… it’s already environmental debris… make it disappear under the sea where it ain’t gonna affect the human population right now!

I know… someone out there is going to cry “think of the poor fishies” if there is a bunch of toxic sludge and poison onboard…

Think of the humans who aren’t going to deal with it if it makes landfall somewhere… ...

Ring ring… Hey Japan… come get your ship full of toxic sludge and poison! What ship full of toxic sludge and poison? Possession is 9/10ths of the law sucker… enjoy your new free gift!

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/05/us/japan-tsunami-ship/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

U.S. Coast Guard tries to sink Japanese boat washed away by tsunami

A U.S. Coast Guard vessel opened fire Thursday afternoon on an abandoned fishing trawler that had drifted near Alaska after last year’s tsunami off Japan, causing it to catch fire and begin taking on water, a Coast Guard spokesman said.

The operation was intended to sink the Ryou-Un Maru so it would not endanger other ships. Coast Guard District 17 was broadcasting the vessel’s location to mariners to alert them to the hazard.

Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley said the Coast Guard continued firing on the ship throughout the afternoon. The firing was to stop at sunset and resume in the morning, if the ship has not sunk by then, he said.

The gunneries operation began at 1 p.m., said U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Jonathan Lally. “The Coast Guard vessel Ana Kappa, based out of Petersburg, Alaska, opened fire with 25 mm cannons on the Japanese vessel. The time it will take to sink is dependent on the weather conditions in the area.”

The U.S. Geological Survey advised the Coast Guard where the ship’s sinking would have the least environmental impact.

“The potential for a pollution incident is unknown at this time, but officials have limited concerns about any biological threats due to the length of time the vessel has been at sea,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The ship drifted from Canadian waters into U.S. waters on Saturday and was located late Thursday 180 miles west of the Dixon Entrance in Southeast Alaska, the Coast Guard said.

A Canadian vessel, the Bernie C, had expressed an interest in salvage, which delayed the operation, but officials deemed that it would be too unsafe to tow or attempt to salvage the vessel, said Coast Guard spokesman Kip Wadlow.

The rust-stained trawler is part of a giant debris field in the Pacific Ocean generated by the devastating wall of water that struck northeastern Japan after a magnitude-9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011.

The enormous wave dragged everything from cars to houses out into the ocean, killing thousands of people.

The drifting trawler was considered a hazard to navigation for vessels in the area, according to authorities. Area mariners were informed about the unmanned and unlit boat’s presence.

The trawler was first spotted floating near British Columbia by a Canadian military air patrol, and it was then determined that it had been adrift since the tsunami, Canadian officials said last month.

The Japan Coast Guard identified the owner of the vessel after being contacted by Canadian officials, who were provided the identification number on the hull.

The vessel, which was used for squid fishing, was moored at Hachinohe in the Aomori prefecture when the tsunami hit, Japanese authorities said.

I bet some Coast Guard people were having a fun day with target practice.

And apparently there’s also another conspiracy theory floating out there that we were not aware of, judging from such comments as:

“Similar to 9/11—U$A wanted to destroy
Fukushima False Flag evidence ?”

I’m a tad curious now as to what sort of “false flag” an earthquake would display.  Hurrah for nutters!

Yeah, that’s reaching a bit far, even for conspiracy nutters. I suppose the theory would be that we somehow *caused* the earthquake and the tsunami and the nuke plant damage… and that somehow a derelict fishing boat has evidence that shows we did it?

I’ve said it before, I think: If a nation has the power to pull off conspiracies on a grand scale, they dont NEED to do so.