Every year, dozens of derelict boats from North Korea wash up on Japanese shores, some carrying the remains of their crew. These "ghost ships" are believed to result when North Korean fishermen are lost at sea and succumb to exposure or starvation. The fishermen often have to travel far out to sea to catch fish due to China's overfishing in North Korean waters. [1] [2] [3] [4]
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]
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. [6] Sources in Wajima said the unclaimed bodies are cremated and their ashes stored in a Buddhist compound. The boats are dismantled, destroyed and incinerated. [7]
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] An analyst quoted by the South China Morning Post said it is unlikely vessels are being used to infiltrate North Korean agents into Japan, as it would be easier for them to use fake passports and put the agents aboard a flight or a ferry ship to Japan. [11]
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 said they had washed ashore after their boat broke down. [10] 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. [12] 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. [11]
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]
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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Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created solid material that has deliberately or accidentally been released in seas or the ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or tidewrack. Deliberate disposal of wastes at sea is called ocean dumping. Naturally occurring debris, such as driftwood and drift seeds, are also present. With the increasing use of plastic, human influence has become an issue as many types of (petrochemical) plastics do not biodegrade quickly, as would natural or organic materials. The largest single type of plastic pollution (~10%) and majority of large plastic in the oceans is discarded and lost nets from the fishing industry. Waterborne plastic poses a serious threat to fish, seabirds, marine reptiles, and marine mammals, as well as to boats and coasts.
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The Battle of Amami-Ōshima, known in Japan as the Spy Ship Incident in the Southwest Sea of Kyūshū, was a six-hour naval confrontation between Japan and North Korea. It took place near the Japanese island of Amami Ōshima, in the East China Sea on 22 December 2001.
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 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).
Until the 1960s, agriculture and fishing were the dominant industries of the economy of South Korea. The fishing industry of South Korea depends on the existing bodies of water that are shared between South Korea, China and Japan. Its coastline lies adjacent to the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, and enables access to marine life such as fish and crustaceans.
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.
The 2011 Incheon fishing incident occurred on December 12, 2011 in Socheong Island, Incheon, South Korea. The incident involved a Chinese fisherman who was said by the South Koreans to be fishing illegally. During the confrontation two Incheon coast guardsmen were stabbed.
Ryou-Un Maru was a Japanese fishing boat that was washed away from its mooring in Aomori Prefecture by the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and drifted across the Pacific Ocean. It was spotted a year later by a routine Royal Canadian Air Force air patrol about 150 nautical miles off the coast of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. The unmanned hulk entered U.S. waters on 1 April 2012, and, after salvage attempts failed, was sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard on 5 April 2012 to prevent the hulk from becoming a hazard to navigation.
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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.