Kansai Airport: How 1 Tanker Trapped 8,000 People

Kansai Airport flooded in 2018, and sinking wasn't the reason. The case file of Typhoon Jebi, a tanker, a GPS reading of 0 and 8,000 stranded. Everyone knows Japan's Kansai International Airport is sinking: more than 13 metres since construction began. But on September 4, 2018, the sea came anyway. Typhoon Jebi, the strongest storm to hit Japan since 1993, pushed a record tide and waves of more than 5 metres over a seawall built for about 3.5. Out in Osaka Bay, the empty tanker Hōun Maru was anchored about 1 nautical mile from the island, inside a 3-mile zone a Coast Guard leaflet warned against. Its anchor dragged, its GPS said the speed was zero, and at 1:40 PM it hit the Sky Gate Bridge, the airport's only link to the mainland. About 8,000 people spent the night on a flooded island with no power. This investigation goes through the official findings (Japan Transport Safety Board, NEXCO West, the airport operator) suspect by suspect: the storm, the island and the ship. At the end: where the 2056 'under water' date comes from, and what it really measures. CHAPTERS 0:00 The day the sea came 1:20 Three suspects 1:54 File 1: the island that sinks 3:38 File 2: Typhoon Jebi 4:51 File 3: the ship and the leaflet 6:12 File 4: the anchor walks 7:16 File 5: speed zero 8:55 File 6: who should have told him 9:48 File 7: the flood, 8,000 stranded 11:20 File 8: what held 12:19 File 9: what changed 12:47 File 10: is 2056 real? 13:35 Who was guilty SOURCES Japan Transport Safety Board, Marine Accident Report MA2019-4-2 (tanker Houn Maru): https://jtsb.mlit.go.jp/ship/rep-acci... JTSB Annual Report 2020, ch. 5: https://jtsb.mlit.go.jp/annualreport2... NEXCO West / JSCE Kansai, bridge damage and restoration (2019): https://www.jsce-kansai.net/wp-conten... Kansai Airports, settlement data: https://env-info.kansai-airports.co.j... Mesri & Funk (2015), J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 141(2); Funk (2013), UIUC: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items... Cabinet Office, White Paper on Traffic Safety 2019 (3-mile rule): https://www8.cao.go.jp/koutu/taisaku/... Aviation Wire (about 8,000 stranded): https://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/... Quotes: NHK passenger and airport official (AFP), via SBS News: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/t... PHOTO CREDITS (Wikimedia Commons unless noted) Typhoon damage at Kansai Airport, Sept 4, 2018 (3 photos): MLIT Kinki Regional Development Bureau, CC BY 4.0 Typhoon Jebi satellite images: NASA (Aqua MODIS, MODIS Rapid Response) and NOAA (NOAA-20 VIIRS), public domain Damaged airport bridge: 小倉商事, CC BY-SA 4.0 Sky Gate Bridge: 663highland, CC BY 2.5; 百楽兎, CC BY-SA 3.0; kanesue, CC BY 3.0; 切干大根, CC BY-SA 4.0 Kansai Airport aerial, 2007: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (国土地理院) Kansai Airport aerial, 2022: Ankou1192, CC BY-SA 4.0 Kansai Airport terminal and aircraft: lasta29, CC BY 2.0; Hide-sp, CC BY-SA 3.0; Spaceaero2, CC BY-SA 3.0 Kansai Airport terminal hall: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kansai_International_Airport_Terminal.JPG, CC BY-SA 3.0 Typhoon damage in Osaka: 321keiHIKARI, CC BY-SA 3.0; Mr.ちゅらさん, CC BY-SA 4.0 Anchor chain: U.S. Navy, MC2 Jason R. Zalasky, public domain Ship's bridge instruments: ImagePerson, CC BY 4.0 Airport bridge toll gate: Takuwanbento1098, CC BY-SA 4.0 Floating crane: Sushiya, CC BY 3.0 Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel: Sengoku38, CC BY-SA 4.0 University of Illinois campus: Dayne Topkin (Unsplash), CC0 Some scenes in this video are AI-generated reconstructions based on real photographs and official reports (marked as altered/synthetic content). Maps, charts and animations are illustrative. Typhoon Jebi claimed lives in Japan; this video is about infrastructure decisions, not blame of any person. #KansaiAirport #TyphoonJebi #SinkingAirport #Japan #Engineering #Megaprojects