Ghost Ships in the Sea of Japan

Alexander Brunner

The famous 1969 Scooby Doo episode, “Go Away Ghost Ship,” has returned over the past few years to haunt Japan’s waters. Instead of finding spooky ghost pirates on deck, in 2017, Japanese authorities in the Akita Prefecture found eight skeletons in a washed up wooden fishing boat. The appearance of these ships, identified as North Korean, is not new to Japanese shores: it is estimated that over 500 North Korean vessels have washed up in Japan since 2011.

A ghost ship is a maritime vessel that has few to no people onboard, hence the “Ghost” part of the name. Ghost ships attempt to move in secret, lack a label, and are used to smuggle illegal cargo. Additionally, the problems tracking these ships coupled with their ability to move weapons from country to country, make ghost ships a dual threat to the international community. 

While it may be possible for a North Korean fishing boat carrying arms to slip beneath a country’s radar, cargo ships are more easily detectable. Consequently, North Korean cargo ships stay hidden by switching off their transponders (tracking devices required for large cargo ships). By turning off the transponders, ships can sail into ports undetected and sell off their cargo to bring in revenue for the North Korean regime. The North Korean government is estimated to raise between 500 Million USD and 2.5 Billion USD per given year from overseas arms sales. Each sale is managed by a board known as “Office 39” which is tasked with maintaining North Korea slush funds or illegal reserves of money.

The lack of tracking ignites a potential security threat because North Korea could place a guided missile system on one of their untraceable ships. Moreover, even if the ships are not weaponized, the distribution of weapons to terrorist and extremist organizations only contributes to global chaos. The revenue earned from ghost ships selling weaponry undermines the increased sanctions on North Korea. Therefore, the rise of ghost ships represents a failure by the global community to curtail the Kim Jong-un regime. In the future, one can only hope that the world can stop the phantom menace like Shaggy uncovering Captain Redbeard’s plot.