Coast Guard monitors ghost ship drifting northwest

Coast Guard monitors ghost ship drifting northwest

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring a derelict Japanese ship that is drifting toward Alaska.

Coast Guard spokesman David Mosley says the shrimping vessel is drifting slowly northwest in the Gulf of Alaska about 125 miles west of the nearest point of land. It is heading toward the southeast Alaska town of Sitka 170 miles to the north.

A Coast Guard C-130 was heading to the ship today to pinpoint the location and check if a data buoy was successfully dropped on Saturday.

The vessel has been adrift since it was launched by a tsunami caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck Japan last year.

Mosley says there are concerns about the ship’s possible danger to maritime traffic and the maritime environment.

He says officials are studying various options.