The 9.0-magnitude earthquake which hit Japan on 11 March 2011 and the massive tsunami it generated killed almost 19, 000 people and triggered a major nuclear accident.

BBC: Golden gifts sent to tsunami-hit Japan port

The sinking of the Ryou-Un Maru brought about the end of a journey for the rust-stained ship that drifted across the Pacific Ocean as part of a giant debris field generated by a tsunami that struck Japan following a 9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011.

CNN: U.S Coast Guard sinks Japanese fishing trawler near Alaska