Japanese Bulker (Cargo Ship) Breaks Apart After Stranding off Japan

maritime-executive.com...

A Japanese dry bulk carrier transporting wood chips grounded during a storm and later broke apart off the port of Hachinohe on the northeast coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu. The Japan Coast Guard successfully evacuated the crew without incident and initially reported that the vessel was not in danger.

The 39,910 gross ton Crimson Polaris operated by NYK Line was reported to be inbound on August 11 from Thailand fully loaded with 44,000 tons of wood chips when the vessel encountered a steering problem. It was washed ashore by strong winds. Media reports indicated that the captain reported losing control although NYK said in a statement that the vessel had anchored outside the port due to the severe weather.

The Japan Coast Guard received a distress call from the vessel at around 7:50 a.m. local time. Shortly after 2:00 p.m., they began an airlift by helicopter lasting approximately five hours to ferry the 21 crew to shore.

forgive me the melodrama but the Sea is still full of danger

very glad the mariners were rescued
hope the ecological impact is minimal

I guess shipwrecks are few and far between these days, thanks to technology, but maybe we just aren't hearing about these things.

a reply to: ElGoobero

I guess shipwrecks are few and far between these days, thanks to technology, but maybe we just aren't hearing about these things.

Well it's not any kind of factoid that I have rattling around in my grey matter, so I went and had a squizz to get a bit of an idea.

Wiki Link.

I guess shipwrecks happen waaayy too often, regardless of the technology they have. Clearly we aren't hearing about these things.

Another ship with steering problems?

a reply to: myselfaswell

wow, thanks for posting that
had no idea there were so many

a reply to: ElGoobero

Typically only larger vessels make it to the news. The majority of vessels lost at sea are down to human error or inexperience, most of them are civilian/private vessels.

The wiki link posted above includes a lot of relatively small vessels like tug boats. Statistically a tiny fraction of vessels get shipwrecked, the statistics before steel hulls will make your eyes water... Before standardised lighthouses things were bad too. In those days a high percentage of vessels went down within coastal waters, often in shouting distance of the coast.

Horrid stuff!

a reply to: Outerlimits13

The wait between the distress call and the evacuation would indicate an issue that worsened over time.

Something the coast guard and sailors figured could be fixed, like engine problems, steering, dodgy ballast/pumps. I'm glad everyone made it out safe.