The B.C. crew that sailed to the Gulf of Alaska to try and salvage the Japanese "ghost ship" cast adrift by last year's devastating earthquake tsunami in Japan returned to Steveston in Richmond on Monday with only a few souvenirs, but the adventure of a lifetime.
The Ryou-Un Maru was sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard last Thursday—but not before Carey Collinge and his mates were given permission to go on board and explore the fishing boat.
Collinge and several crew members had thought "it would have been kind of cool" to save the boat and send it back to Japan. The boat was first spotted off the Haida Gwaii in March. It is one of the first pieces of a giant mass of debris from Japan's earthquake and tsunami last year that is expected to reach B.C's coast soon.
"The toughest part was the U.S. Coast Guard was already there, they were going to shoot holes in [the boat]," said Collinge. "We were only maybe 20, 30 miles away. It was kind of tense, being so close. Hard to go all that way and just see an oil spot."
After negotiating with the US Coast Guard, Collinge and his friends were allowed to go on board the Japanese boat and do an assessment. What they saw shocked and disappointed them.
"It was way worse than expected, it looked like the vessel had been ransacked" Collinge said. "Somebody had been aboard it at sea somewhere because every cupboard, every shelf was ripped open, product was spilled all over, it was in disarray."
The men did find a Shinto shrine, life rings, and an unopened envelope with elegant writing on it. The engine room was flooded with diesel and water. Collinge said he doesn't believe anyone had been on board when the boat was swept away by the tsunami last year. After an hour, the crew left the boat, and the U.S. Coast Guard pummeled it with explosives.
Even though they didn't find the treasures they were hoping for, Collinge said he and his friends do not regret the 11-day voyage.
"It was the intrigue—‘Wow, this vessel made it all the way here,'" he said. "You don't see that very often."
With a file from CTV British Columbia's Brent Gilbert
