TOKYO, Jan 18 (NNN-NHK) – The Japan Coast Guard, today said, one of its patrol boats had run aground in shallow waters, off the coast of Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture.
According to the Niigata coast guard, none of the 43 crew members of the patrol boat, Echigo were injured, although local reports said, the vessel is taking on water and leaking oil.
The patrol boat reportedly contacted the Japan Coast Guard at around 6:30 a.m. local time, to say the boat was stranded as it had run aground in shallow waters.
The water was shallow in the area where the boat was on patrol, when it became stranded about 1.1 km north-west from a lighthouse in Kashiwazaki City.
The Japan Coast Guard dispatched its own patrol boats to the scene, to rescue the crew of the stranded vessel, which could be seen anchored in shallow, choppy waters, caused by rain and strong winds.
As of 11:00 a.m. local time, the stricken patrol boat remained stranded and the crew still onboard.
Echigo is a 105-metre-long patrol boat weighing 3,100 tonnes. The large patrol boat is designed to carry a helicopter.
An investigation is underway as to why the vessel ran aground.
The latest accident of a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat running aground, follows a similar one in Hokkaido in 2021, when a large patrol boat ran aground shortly after leaving port.
