North Korean fishing boats carrying corpses wash up in Japan

[Desert Fox]

This is a pretty weird one
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/north-korea-japan-ghost-boats-1.3344976

Fishing boats carrying decomposed corpses have washed ashore in Japan in recent weeks, leading to speculation they are rickety North Korean vessels that have strayed dangerously far from port under the impoverished nation's push to boost its catch.

There has been no mention from secretive North Korea of any missing boats, but its leader, Kim Jong-un, has put a high priority on fishing as a way of earning foreign currency and providing a sustainable food source that is not reliant on harvests and weather.

The Japanese coast guard and police reported 12 incidents of wrecked wooden boats, including some that were in pieces, on the country's shores and waters since October, containing 22 dead bodies, including five skulls

 

[casebro]

Starving refugees hoping the wind brings them to Japan before the end?

Any boats without corpses being found, refugees having made it ashore to sanctuary with native Japanese?

 

[rjh01]

No, they are fishing, getting into trouble. The crew starve to death. It is in the linked article. If this happens a lot they could run out of ships. And experienced crew. Rebuilding could be hard.

 

[William Parcher]

For myself, there are some mysteries and skepticism of claims. Small fishing boats that still contain fishing gear and nets maybe should not be resulting in starvation. They can catch their own food. Lack of freshwater to drink needs to be considered but there are some ways to get that at sea.

At least some boats contained skulls but without the corresponding bodies. One boat seems to have contained 5 heads as well as a complete skeleton. I don't know if homicide is certainly ruled out.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

From a friend near Seoul: "Even corpses flee the North."

 

[BenBurch]

How bad does the fishing have to be before you can starve on a fishing boat? I'd be eating raw fish first.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

How bad does the fishing have to be before you can starve on a fishing boat? I'd be eating raw fish first.

Over-fishing can do that.

 

[William Parcher]

Some were suggested to be squid fishermen or squid boats. This fishing is done at night and most often with nets. The squid move to the surface in such great quantity that it can seem as though the ocean is mainly squid with some water there too. If they had any lines and hooks they could catch tuna even without bait, but they can create bait with anything that they would catch.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Lack of skill at fishing?

 

[qayak]

Some were suggested to be squid fishermen or squid boats. This fishing is done at night . . .

And The Kraken feeds at night. Coincidence? I think not!

 

[CORed]

Over-fishing can do that.

Also, according to the linked article, these boats had lost power and were adrift. They may well have drifted away from productive fishing areas. As someone else mentioned, running out of fresh water is another possibility. Also, being North Korean, they may well have been malnourished before they ever set foot on the boat.

 

[BenBurch]

Over-fishing can do that.

Sad on so many levels.