10/06/2012

Tsunami boat found by Hawaii fishermen

U.S. Coast Guard officials in Hawaii say fishermen have found a 16-foot Japanese skiff swept out to sea by last year's tsunami and brought it to Honolulu.

The Coast Guard announced Friday the crew of the Tuna longliner Zephyr found the small boat intact and floating about 700 miles northeast of Oahu.

Peter Grillo is the captain of the Zephyr.  He says the crew found the boat on Sept. 28 at around 1 p.m. He says he scraped off the barnacles and saw that it was a Japanese boat.  Grillo pulled into Pier 38 at Honolulu Harbor at around 3 a.m. Friday.

The Coast Guard says the Japanese consulate confirmed the skiff was from the tsunami after Japanese Foreign Ministry contacted the owner. The owner doesn't want it back.

Hawaii officials checked the boat for invasive species and radiation as a precaution.

The boat is the second confirmed piece of tsunami debris to arrive in Hawaii.  Last month, a large blue plastic bin used to transport seafood was found floating in waters off eastern Oahu. The bin was from Fukushima.

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