ISHIKAWA (TR) – Japan Coast Guard officials and local police believe several unmanned wooden boat found washed ashore on Noto Peninsula last week possibly originated from North Korea, reports TBS News (Nov. 24).
On the morning of November 24, one craft — measuring 7.8 meters in length — was found washed ashore in Suzu City. Another vessel was found along the shore in the town of Shika the day before.
According to the officials and police, fishing nets, cloth bags and spoons were found aboard the vessel in Suzu. Hangul writing, which is the script of the Korean language, was discovered on the vessel beached in Shika. No persons were found at either area.
Water currents and winds regularly send ships whose engines have become disabled to the northern coasts of Japan.
Earlier this month, the government of Japan said that 89 such vessels washed shore in northern Japan through November 9, a figure that is on pace to exceed that for 2017.
