Japanese tsunami 'ghost ship' off B.C. to be sunk

The U.S. Coast Guard intends to sink the so-called Japanese "ghost ship" that was first spotted adrift off the B.C. coast last month, CBC News has learned.

The derelict vessel was ripped from its moorings during the March 2011 tsunami in northern Japan.

The plan calls for a coast guardship to come alongside Thursday morning and blast holes in the ship's hull with a 25-millimetre cannon.

The unmanned 54-metre vessel isnow being carried north on ocean currents toward Alaskaand is considered a potential hazard to shipping.

The ship, which wasfirst spotted March 23 about 220 kilometres off Haida Gwaii, B.C., is believed to be at the leading edge of a field of debris weighing millions of tonnes and expected to hit the West Coast starting later this year and through 2013.

The debris was picked up and carried out to sea by the massive waves and swells that swept ashore March 11, 2011, after a powerful earthquake off the Japanese coast.