North Korean boats drifting off Japan likely to hit record high in 2018: coast guard
The number of wooden boats drifting off Japan or brought ashore is highly likely to hit an all-time high in 2018, according to the Japan Coast Guard. This year, 89 such boats, believed to be North Korean fishing boats, had been found off or on ...
In training program, Japan, U.S. to help Pacific island nations counter illegal fishing
Japan and the United States plan to jointly offer training to maritime authorities of Pacific island nations to help them better crack down on illegal fishing within their exclusive economic zones, a Japanese government source said Saturday. During a roughly three-week program in Japan, which ...
Japan's territorial waters expand due to volcanic activity in Ogasawara chain
Japan's territorial waters are estimated to have increased by about 4 square kilometers from those of around October 2016 due to the expansion of Nishinoshima island in the Ogasawara chain due to volcanic activity, the Japan Coast Guard has announced. The country's exclusive economic zone ...
Japan Coast Guard to deploy new, 1,500-ton patrol boats to Sea of Japan to guard atomic plants
The Japan Coast Guard will deploy two large patrol vessels to the Sea of Japan to defend nuclear power plants against terrorism, sources say. Two new 1,500-ton vessels have helipads and will be deployed between fiscal 2019 and 2020 to the coast guard's Tsuruga office ...
As squid season peaks, Japanese fishermen fear confrontation with North Korean boats
Fishing crews are growing more concerned about the shadowy North Korean boats because they are getting close enough to see their crews’ faces.
Fishing boat sinks in storm off Miyagi; crew of 18 rescued
All 18 crew members aboard a 32-meter fishing boat that started sinking Wednesday in stormy weather about 850 km east of Miyagi Prefecture were rescued by nearby vessels, according to the Japan Coast Guard. The 122-ton Koryo Maru No. 68 from Kochi Prefecture, which had ...
Japan Coast Guard reinforces Sea of Japan fleet to ward off North Korean poachers
The Japan Coast Guard has beefed up its patrol fleet near the Yamato Bank in the Sea of Japan to counter increasing numbers of North Korean fishing boats in Japan's exclusive economic zone, it announced Friday. The Yamato Bank is in the middle of the ...
Oil that reached Japan's shores was from sunken Iranian tanker Sanchi, coast guard says
Oil that reached islands in the Amami chain earlier this month is highly likely to have come from the sunken Iranian tanker Sanchi, the Japan Coast Guard said on Thursday. Samples of oily matter that washed up on Feb. 8 on the shores of Okinoerabu ...
Japan Coast Guard seeks to boost response time with new bases for large patrol ships
The Japan Coast Guard is planning to build bases for seven new large patrol ships in a bid to improve response time to incidents — including the frequent intrusions by Chinese vessels into Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, ...
Coast guard's Maizuru base stands on the front line of Japan's poaching and nuclear concerns
Located less than 900 kilometers from North Korea and beside Fukui Prefecture's nuclear power reactors, Japan Coast Guard's 8th Regional Headquarters in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, finds some of the nation's challenges close at hand. The Maizuru base is one of 11 regional coast guard headquarters ...
Three North Koreans held in Hokkaido theft probe after fishing boat fails to escape coast guard
Three North Korean fishermen are arrested in Hokkaido in connection with a ransacked island hut after their ship tried to escape from the Japan Coast Guard.
North Korean fishermen are suspected of making off with appliances, a solar panel and other items from a hut on an uninhabited islet off Hokkaido.
