An abandoned Japanese ship that drifted thousands of kilometers across the Pacific after last year's tsunami is about to meet its final resting place.

The U.S. Coast Guard began firing on the vessel in the Gulf of Alaska Thursday, looking to sink it.

Coast Guard officials call the vessel a “ghost ship.” It is about 50 meters long and has no lights, crew, or communications system. The Coast Guard says it poses a significant danger to other ships in the Gulf.

They say sinking the ship poses no risk to the environment and that any fuel on board would be evaporated by now.

The boat is the largest piece of debris to drift into North American waters after last year's tsunami caused by a devastating earthquake off the Japanese coast.