Every year, dozens of derelict boats from North Korea wash up on Japanese shores; some of the boats house the remains of their crew. These "ghost ships" are believed to result when North Korean fishermen, often having to travel further out to sea to catch fish due to China's notorious overfishing in N. Korean waters, [1] [2] [3] [4] are lost at sea and succumb to exposure or starvation.
Fishing is a dangerous occupation worldwide; for example, the work-related fatality rate for Australian fisherman in one study was 143 per 100,000 man-years, which was 18 times the Australian national average work-related fatality rate. [5] During the winter, North Korean fishing boats go out searching for king crab, squid and sandfish. [6] Some of the boats appear to be either operated by soldiers or rented by the army to civilians. [7] [8] Fish is one of the main exports from North Korea to China. [9] Wreckage from North Korean boats often washes ashore in northern Japan during winter due to seasonal winds. [10]
The ghost ships washing up without living crewmen typically are old, lack powerful modern engines, and have no GPS. A lack of food may play a role in crew death; with little food on board, exposure and starvation can become significant dangers. Scholars such as John Nilsson-Wright of Chatham House find it unlikely that the boats resulted from attempts to defect; given that South Korea has closer cultural and linguistic ties, and is closer to North Korea by boat than Japan is, defection via Japan rather than South Korea by boat is uncommon. [6] There are a few, rare, precedents for defectors ending up near Japan. In 1987, eleven defectors drifted from North Korea to west Japan. In 2006, four defectors floated to northern Japan. [11] In September 2011, nine defectors accidentally made a five-day voyage to Japanese waters in a small boat while attempting to travel to South Korea. [12]
An analyst quoted by the South China Morning Post stated that it is unlikely vessels are being used to infiltrate North Korean agents into Japan, as it would be easier for them to just use fake passports and put the agents aboard a flight or a ferry ship to Japan. [12]
Defectors aside, fishing boats with living crew have also washed up on Japanese shores. In November 2017, eight North Korean men and a broken boat were found on Japan's northern coast; the men stated they had washed ashore after their boat broke down. [10]
Chinese commercial fishermen have engaged in large-scale squid fishing in North Korean waters in violation of U.N. sanctions which prohibit foreign fishing vessels from fishing in North Korean waters. The Chinese squid fishing fleet in North Korean waters has at times numbered up to 800 vessels and has caused a 70% decline in squid stock in those waters. According to Global Fisheries Watch “This is the largest known case of illegal fishing perpetrated by a single industrial fleet operating in another nation’s waters.” [13] The decline in the squid stocks as a result of this illegal fishing is also believed to be a contributing factor to the increase in North Korean ghost ships. This is believed to have forced North Korean fishermen to venture further from shore and stay out longer, greatly increasing the risks of an already risky job. [14] The so-called “dark fleet” of Chinese vessels has harvested half a billion dollars worth of squid in North Korean waters since 2017. [15]
Asked by the Los Angeles Times about the fate of the boats and bodies in Wajima, local sources state that the unclaimed bodies are cremated and their ashes stored in a Buddhist compound. The boats are eventually dismantled, destroyed, and incinerated. [7]
North Korean ghost ships have also been reported in the Russian Far East. [25]
A ghost ship, also known as a phantom ship, is a vessel with no living crew aboard; it may be a fictional ghostly vessel, such as the Flying Dutchman, or a physical derelict found adrift with its crew missing or dead, like the Mary Celeste. The term is sometimes used for ships that have been decommissioned but not yet scrapped, as well as drifting boats that have been found after breaking loose of their ropes and being carried away by the wind or the waves.
Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is generally referred to as a "cork line." The line along the bottom of the panels is generally weighted. Traditionally this line has been weighted with lead and may be referred to as "lead line." A gillnet is normally set in a straight line. Gillnets can be characterized by mesh size, as well as colour and type of filament from which they are made. Fish may be caught by gillnets in three ways:
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Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long and troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. It was initially a threat to international fishing vessels during the early 2000s, only to rapidly escalate and expand to international shipping during the War in Somalia (2006–2009).
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China has one-fifth of the world's population and accounts for one-third of the world's reported fish production as well as two-thirds of the world's reported aquaculture production. It is also a major importer of seafood and the country's seafood market is estimated to grow to a market size worth US$53.5 Billion by 2027.
The 2010 Eocheong boat collision incident occurred on December 18, 2010 off Eocheong Island in the Yellow Sea. It involved the Republic of Korea Coast Guard (ROK) and fishermen from the People's Republic of China. About 503 Chinese trawlers were illegally fishing about 12,000 kilometers off the island of Eocheong. A Republic of Korea Coast Guard ship shot the fishermen with water cannons to move them back. When the coast guardsmen began boarding the ship to detain the fishermen, the trawler intentionally collided with one of the Korean coastguard patrol boats.
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The discovery is just one of 28 boats that have reached the Japanese shoreline facing North Korea this year -- about four more compared to last year.