The Japan Coast Guard arrested a ship's captain from Taiwan early Friday for obstructing air traffic at Okinawa's Naha airport by running his 42-meter-long ship aground near the airport's runway.
Feng Shi-an, 46, is suspected of steering his Taiwan-registered ship onto a reef 850 meters north of the end of the runway around 7:10 a.m. Thursday. The position of the 12,406-ton freighter, the Uni Moral, posed a threat to air traffic at the airport, according to coast guard officials.
Air traffic was suspended from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., when the ship managed to leave the location, airport officials said.
A total of 59 flights were canceled, while some were diverted to other destinations, including Kadena Air Base on Okinawa Island and Kagoshima airport. About 10,000 passengers were affected, airlines said.