The trawler's planned sinking was temporarily halted Thursday morning when the Coast Guard ship, the Anacapa, based out of Petersburg, Alaska, arrived to find a Canadian ship inspecting the trawler.

CNN: U.S. Coast Guard sinks Japanese boat washed away by tsunami

In 1993, he pulled his ship alongside a Cuban bottom trawler on the Grand Banks and attacked it with butyric acid.

NEWYORKER: Neptune��s Navy

Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Jim Nisbett said his ship's equipment could prove vital in finding the missing trawler.

BBC: Search for trawler set to intensify

The Japan coast guard identified the trawler and its owner after Canadian officials provided the identification number on the hull of the ship.

CNN: U.S. Coast Guard sinks Japanese boat washed away by tsunami