There were about 780 accidents over the 10 years through 2014 in which vessels accidentally collided with and damaged maritime navigation signs in seas off Japan, with 70 percent of them found to be “hit-and-run” cases, according to the Japan Coast Guard.
The Japan News reports that the Japan Coast Guard incurred losses of about ¥170 million over the period to repair or replace such buoys. It suspects that many of the vessels involved were foreign-registered freighters and left Japan without noticing the accidents they caused, making it difficult to deal with the accidents.
According to the JCG, 218 of the 780 cases of accidental contact from 2005 to 2014 were reported by the vessels involved. The remaining 562 were “hit-and-run” cases, with the vessels eventually identified in 207 cases but still unknown in the other 355.
Most of the damaged objects were light buoys for maritime navigation, which are placed with weights in ocean waters off Japan. The vessels often collided with the buoys as they were drifting with the tide or trying to avoid another vessel. Large-size freighters and tankers involved in collisions could have continued cruising without even noticing their accidental contact with a small buoy.
Source & Image Credit : Japan News
