Coast guard personnel and police inspected an uncooperative North Korean freighter Monday in Chiba Prefecture but found nothing unusual and believe a tip about suspicious men in wet suits that led to the search was a hoax, a senior Japan Coast Guard official said.
The inspection at Funabashi port, conducted jointly by local police, the coast guard, and customs and immigration authorities, was launched around noon because the ship refused to allow an inspection team to board it while anchored off Jogashima Island, Kanagawa Prefecture, the day before, coast guard officials said.
The 10,000-ton Sonamu, believed to be an ore carrier, was traveling from Shanghai to Funabashi and was flying the North Korean flag.