More than 258 Ghost ships have washed up on the shores of Japan since 2012. What are they and where are they from? No one knows for sure, but theories point to North Korea.
In November, 2012, a badly damaged boat washed up on the shores of Sado Island, Niigata City in the waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula. The boat was first discovered by local fishermen, who, upon investigation, found that there were no engines attached to the boat, and the dead bodies of five adult males.
The boat had what appeared to be Korean language markings, however they were impossible to read. The men on board were so badly decomposed, police estimated they had been dead for more than a month.
2013 brought a total of 80 such ships to the shores of Japan. In 2014 there were 65, 30 in 2015, 83 in 2016 and 104 in 2017. So far, there has only been 1 in 2018, washing up in January.
These boats seem to have 1 thing in common. The entire crew is dead.
So what is bringing these ships to the coasts of Japan? Japanese officials have been trying to investigate the cause of death of those onboard, but with their advanced state of decomposition (sometimes all that washes up are skeletons), it is often impossible to determine.
When Kim Jong Un decided to expand the fishing industry to increase its revenue for the military, more boats were needed. Old fishing boats were used, being manned by the military were sent out. It is suspected that these are the wooden boats that are washing up. They are old and while some have no engine at all, others have aged engines that are not powerful. None have GPS navigation systems.
These boats, are being manned by men with no knowledge of fishing or navigating the waters. If these men ventured too far, or weather has impacted their course, it would be easy for them to get lost. According to a Japan Coast Guard publication, the waters around the country are “subject to great changes in sea as well as weather conditions, and this constitutes a grave threat to navigation.” These boats could easily end up further out than they were prepared for, where they would only have a limited supply of food on board, and eventually starvation and/or exposure would kill them.
Additionally, these crews have been put under an immense amount of pressure to return with a full keel. “If they don’t catch what they’re supposed to, if they’re behind, if they lose control of the boat, they will be punished,” said Robert King, former US special envoy for North Korea human rights. This expectation can leave crews desperate, causing them to take risks they wouldn’t normally take, causing disaster.
In 2017 alone, it has been reported that more than 40 North Korean fishermen were rescued alive.
Another theory is that these men are defectors, trying to escape the regime in Pyongyang.
In the wake of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile testing, stringent international sanctions were passed, banning the sale of North Korean seafood to other countries, leaving the fishermen no choice but to offload their catches on the black market. Marcus Noland, an analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics said, “They’re having to rendezvous with foreign vessels in international waters to sell their catches on the high sea so it can be relabeled (as from Japan or South Korea).”
Since the mid 1990’s, more than 30,000 North Koreans have defected. Defectors have told stories of violent retaliation for political speech, starvation, and even being confined to labor camps for watching American movies. Many continue to try escape, choosing the possibility of death over remaining captive. Those who are caught face severe punishment; The North Korea penal code states that defectors face two years of hard labor if they are caught crossing the border.
Even those helping citizens defect would be put to death, with family members of those violators facing imprisonment, or banishment to remote regions of North Korea.
While we still do not know why these ghost ships washing up on Japan’s shores, or the cause of death of those on board, we can still search for answers. If it is the North Koreans, may their death be better than the alternative.
Looking for another story from Japan? Check this one out.
