Japanese brewery mishap turns sea bright red

The company responsible says largely harmless red cooling liquid leaked into the drainage system

A river near the Japanese port of Nago on the island of Okinawa turned red after coolant used in beer-making leaked into the water from a brewery. AFP

A leak from a beer factory at the Japanese port of Nago on the island of Okinawa has turned the sea bright red, the local coast guard reported on Tuesday, shocking residents as red water flowed into the port's canals.

Okinawa-based Orion Breweries, which owns the beer factory, apologised for the leak and said it was caused by propylene glycol, a largely harmless substance that is used widely, from sweetening food to cooling systems.

The brewery acknowledged it had caused “inconvenience and concern to nearby residents and other concerned parties”.

Nago is well known on the island as a tourism hotspot, with pristine white beaches nearby.

The leaking coolant had “flowed out through rainwater gutters, causing the seas and rivers in the city to turn red. The outflow stopped at 9.30am,” Okinawa Times reported.

It is not the first time an industrial accident has caused a waterway to turn blood red.

In 2016, officials in Russia investigated pollution in the Arctic city of Norilsk, when the Daldykan river turned crimson.

Russia’s Environment Ministry said at the time that the incident was caused by a leaking slurry pipe from a nickel manufacturing plant.