KANAZAWA, Japan - Work began Wednesday to remove a giant 150-meter hose that washed up as debris along the rocky Sea of Japan coast in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture, local government officials said.
The hose, made of iron and rubber tubing, is estimated to weigh 300 tons and has a diameter of about 2 meters at its widest section. It is thought that it was used for dredging work to suck up sediment from the seabed.
Ishikawa officials were alerted by the seaside town in mid-December last year that the hose was drifting offshore, and they aim to complete the removal by fall.
While the hose bears the name of a Chinese company believed to be the manufacturer, the owner is unknown.
Ishikawa officials expect the work to cost about 50 million yen ($310,000), although the prefecture's actual financial burden is expected to be around 2 million yen after accounting for subsidies from the central government for washed-up debris.
