A strong gale overnight hurled three Japanese ships working for an international oil project onto the shores of Russia's Pacific island of Sakhalin, officials with the local rescue center said Monday.
The ships, two cargo barges and a tugboat, were anchored but the gale ruptured their moorings. There were neither casualties nor oil spills into the sea, officials said.
The vessels are part of the Sakhalin II international oil and natural gas project.
Sakhalin II is the second phase in a project that began in 1996 and saw the first oil produced three years later. It involves the construction of offshore platforms and pipelines to a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and export terminals on the island.
The project has been sharply criticised by environmentalists for potential damage to rare species on the island as well as local communities.
The biggest concern is that construction will endanger the world's 100 remaining grey whales which use the north of the island as a feeding ground.
related report
Strong Quake Shakes Southern Japan
Tokyo (AFP) Nov 21 – An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook southern Japan Tuesday in the latest major quake to hit the archipelago, but there were no reports of damage, officials said.
The quake rocked wide areas of the main southern island of Kyushu at 12:36 am (1536 GMT Monday), the meteorological agency said. It was focused off Tanegashima island, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
"We have no reports of damage or injuries," a Kyushu police spokesman said.
The tremor did not cause tsunami waves.
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale shook northern Japan a week ago, forcing hundreds of residents to flee their homes as small tsunami waves hit the Pacific coast.
Japan endures 20 percent of the world's major earthquakes.
