Japanese 'Ghost Ship' Haunts Canadian Coast One Year After Tsunami

Japanese 'Ghost Ship' Haunts Canadian Coast One Year After Tsunami

A Japanese fishing vessel swept away in the tsunami has been photographed bobbing off the coast of Canada.

The rusted and battered ‘ghost ship’ was spotted by a maritime surveillance aircraft 4,703 miles away from where it had been originally moored in the Aomori prefecture.

There is not thought to be anyone on board the 65m ship, which was swept out into the ocean in March last year, following the devastating earthquake which triggered a tsunami.

The ship is being monitored by the Canadian authorities lest it drifts into shipping lanes and becomes a hazard.

US senator for Washington State Maria Cantwell said in a statement the boat was likely to drift south.

She said: “On its current trajectory and speed, the vessel wouldn’t make landfall for approximately 50 days.”

As Japan recently marked its first anniversary since the tsunami, the country’s clean-up effort has been making striking progress.

In this set of before and after pictures, scenes of the devastation are juxtaposed with images of the same spots, cleaned of debris and effectively reclaimed by the Japanese people.

A surge of water from the tsunami caused by the quake knocked out power at the coastal Fukushima plant, leading to the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Tens of thousands have had to leave the area, and it's unclear whether some will ever be able to move back.

Volunteer and governmental organisations have worked tirelessly to restore the country, and as these pictures reveal, the results show for themselves.

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