A Little Off Course, a Little Onshore
Of all the perils of owning a seaside home, Haruo Abe never thought he’d have to deal with a cargo ship in his living room. But that’s exactly what he was facing at 2:30 a.m. after the captain of a 550-ton tanker fell asleep.
Abe suffered a bruised shoulder when the ship hit his house on Osakikami island, 400 miles southwest of Tokyo. Six crew members were not hurt.
“I heard a boom and within three seconds the second floor came falling down,” Abe, 76, told Japan’s public broadcaster NHK. “Unlike an earthquake, the house didn’t keep shaking.”
The ship continued its voyage after help from a tugboat.
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