U.S Coast Guard sinks Japanese fishing trawler near Alaska

The U.S. Coast Guard sank a Japanese fishing trawler off the coast of Alaska on Thursday, more than a year after it was swept away by a tsunami off the east coast of Japan, authorities said. The trawler capsized hours after the Coast Guard set fire to it, causing it to begin taking on water, said Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley, a Coast Guard spokesman. The sinking of the Ryou-Un Maru brought about the end of a journey for the rust-stained ship that drifted across the Pacific Ocean as part of a giant debris field generated by a tsunami that struck Japan following a 9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011. (CNN)