Japanese crippled vessel in pristine area

Japanese crippled vessel in pristine area



Feb 2007 - Prime 
Minister Helen Clark is urging the government of Japan to 
remove a crippled whaling vessel from a pristine area of the 
Ross Sea inhabited by penguin colonies and other wildlife. But 
Clark, who leads a government in favor of whale conservation, 
is not offering a safe berth to the Japanese ship. 
On Thursday, the Nisshin Maru was damaged in an explosion and 
fire that was later extinguished by the crew. It is still 
afloat in the Antarctic Ocean about 1,600 nautical miles south 
of New Zealand. 
"We believe the ship has to be moved north," said Clark. 
Obviously, your first priority in a dangerous marine 
environment is to safeguard life, and we have a stricken ship, 
that's an issue. One crew member's life has already been 
lost," she said. 
The body of crew member Kazutaka Makita, 27, was found 
Saturday on the deck of the vessel close to where the fire 
began, according to Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research, 
which owns and operates the whaler. 
The fire damaged equipment used for propulsion, which is 
preventing the ship from making way on its own. The ship is 
carrying more than 1,000 metric tons of fuel. 
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark 
"We have a huge concern for the environment, a pristine 
environment in the area of Antarctica where New Zealand has a 
claim," said Prime Minister Clark. "So we would like to see 
that stricken ship out of there as soon as possible." 
But when asked by reporters if she would offer the Nisshin 
Maru a berth in New Zealand to make repairs, Clark said only 
that the Japanese have not made such a request. 
Assistance has been offered by the Greenpeace vessel 
Esperanza, a vessel capable of towing Nisshin Maru which is on 
the scene. Aid was also offered by the U.S. Coast Guard 
icebreaker Polar Sea, but the Japanese maintain that they need 
no help. 
“Fears that this might turn into some environmental disaster 
are premature. The vessel is not drifting, it’s not listing 
and it’s not leaking," the Institute of Cetacean Research said 
in a statement. "The Nisshin Maru is stable and the fire has 
been contained to one area well away from any fuel and oil 
storage." 
The Nisshin Maru is lashed onto vessels from the Japanese 
whaling fleet on each side for stability and support. On the 
left is the Oriental Bluebird, a tanker carrying fuel, and on 
the right is the hunting whaler Yushin Maru II. . 
Two other Japanese whaling vessels are helping the ship avoid 
icebergs, but Maritime New Zealand fears this arrangement 
could become dangerous if the weather turns and the seas 
become more turbulent. 
The Polar Sea conducted an environmental assessment of the 
fire damaged whaling vessel Friday. No pollution was found 
during a 360 degree check of the vessel, the Coast Guard 
reported. 
Polar Sea was sent to assess and photograph the stricken 
vessel for any potential environmental impacts that could 
result from the fire. The request for assistance was made by 
the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the 
U.S. Embassy in New Zealand. 
Polar Sea was in the area to open a channel in the Antarctic 
ice for supply ships to reach the U.S. McMurdo Antarctic 
research station and offload provisions for the winter. Polar 
Sea was departing McMurdo to its home port of Seattle, when it 
was diverted to assess the Nisshin Maru. 
Prime Minister Clark said on Newstalk ZB radio that the 
whalers had better be able to cope with the situation now that 
they had rejected assistance. 
"My advice is if you can't see a way of getting that boat out 
of there without some help either from the American vessel or 
from Greenpeace or from somebody else, the world is going to 
be very upset if there's a major spill in that area," the 
prime minister said. 
Later, at her post-Cabinet press conference, she said, "One 
would hope that the fact that this season has been so ghastly 
for the Japanese whaling fleet might give cause for some 
reflection on whether they come back again." 
Adelie penguin colony at New Zealand's Cape Bird South, Ross 
Island, Antarctica 
The crew of the Japanese whaling vessel has managed to restore 
power on the ship after the fire, said New Zealand 
Conservation Minister Chris Carter, but the engines are not 
working. 
"At present there is a window of good weather which may last 
for two days," Carter said Friday. "New Zealand has today 
contacted the Japanese government in Tokyo, and I have spoken 
to the Japanese Ambassador in Wellington, urging Japan to make 
the most of the benign weather and move the Nisshin Maru out 
of Antarctic waters in the safest and most practical way." 
Greenpeace fears the Nisshin Maru will be stuck in ice if it 
does not move quickly out of the Antarctic. 
Anti-whaling campaigners on board the Esperanza say several 
ice sheets are moving closer to the Japanese vessels. 
Melanie Duchin, a Greenpeace campaigner from Anchorage, Alaska 
who is aboard the Esperanza writes on the ship's blog, "All of 
our offers to tow the vessel to safety have been refused by 
the Japanese authorities in Tokyo. We have been told that the 
whaling fleet will use its own vessels to tow the Nisshin Maru 
north, however, the Esperanza still remains the best-equipped 
ship for the job." 
Duchin writes, "It's time for the Japanese to stop playing 
Russian Roulette with the pristine Antarctic environment and 
get their crippled whaling vessel, the Nisshin Maru, out of 
here as soon as possible." 
The Ross Sea is one of the most biologically productive 
regions of the Southern Ocean. 
More than 38 percent of all Adelie penguins - five million 
penguins in 38 colonies - are found here, even though this 
region has less than 10 percent of the total Antarctic 
coastline. 
The Japanese whaling vessels were in the Southern Ocean with 
the stated intention of killing up to 900 minke whales and up 
to 10 endangered fin whales for "scientific research."

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