30 Annual Cases in Japan: Chilling Photos of Ship-Blowing Marine Tornadoes

obliterating a luxury yacht.

Huge whirlpools at sea alongside lightning flashing in the dark night, and eerie white bands stretching out from between the clouds.

The photos above are of tornadoes that have occurred around the world and suddenly appeared over the ocean. The force of the powerful vortices obliterates ships floating on the sea. On the island of Sicily in southern Italy, seven people were killed in August when a luxury yacht was struck by a tornado.

The vessel that sank was a 56-meter-long British-flagged superyacht. It is believed to have been struck by a severe thunderstorm and tornado early in the morning when it was anchored at sea about 1 km from the harbor. The 72-meter-high mast snapped off and 22 people on board, including an infant, were thrown into the dark sea. Among the bodies found was Mike Lynch, a businessman known as the ‘Bill Gates of Britain'” (a reporter stationed in Europe for a major media outlet).

Even yachts, which are structurally difficult to sink, can be easily submerged by marine tornadoes. Professor Yoshihiro Tachibana of the Weather and Climate Dynamics Laboratory at Mie University explains the mechanism.

When sea surface temperatures are high, an updraft is generated. At that time, if there is a cold low-pressure system overhead, it will cause the upwelling air to rotate and trigger a tornado to form. The winds are as strong as those near the center of a typhoon, and they are accompanied by strong whirlpools and spray on the surface of the water.”

Don’t let your guard down just because you are on land.”

Marine tornadoes are frequently observed in Japan. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, there are an average of 53 tornadoes per year, and about 30 of these are at sea. In September 2003, six fishing boats sank off the coast of Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, after being caught in an offshore tornado. Five crew members were killed.

In March of this year, another tornado hit the straits between Motobu Peninsula and Iejima Island in northern Okinawa. Captain Katsuhiko Tamaki of Ferry Gusuku witnessed the incident.

In my 34 years of experience as a sailor, I have never seen a tornado that big. If a small fishing boat or other vessel were caught in a tornado on the ocean with no escape route, it would be utterly devastating.

Tachibana said the risk of tornadoes in Japan is increasing due to the effects of global warming.

Sea water temperatures around Japan continue to be about 5°C higher than normal, so a strong cold snap overhead could trigger a tornado over the ocean at any time and anywhere. Tornadoes can move from sea to land, so we must not let our guard down just because we are on land.

In September, during typhoon season, people should avoid sailing out to sea when the weather is bad.

From the September 27 and October 4, 2024 combined issue of FRIDAY