 Crew
member feared dead, Japanese refuse Greenpeace assistance
Japanese officials said today that the whaling vessel NISSHIN MARU poses
no environmental threat.
Meanwhile it is presumed one of the crew of the vessel is dead.
Fears had been raised that the ship was listing badly, threatening to
spill its fuel oil near sensitive penguin breeding grounds, indeed the
world's biggest, but Japanese officials say the ship is not listing, that
the fire was nowhere near the fuel holds and that she is not leaking.
The area affected by the fire is still too dangerous with smoke to be
examined properly and it is unclear whether or not the fire is fully
extinguished.
Chris Carter, the New Zealand Conservation Minister urged the Japanese to
take up Greenpeace's offer of being assisted by their vessel ESPERANZA,
but, no doubt with bitter memories of the last time the ship was mobbed by
Greenpeace activists, or suspicious of the environmental group's
intentions, this has been repeatedly refused.
One crew member has been missing since the vessel was evacuated and it is
now feared that the person has died, although whether or not in the fire
is unknown.
The whale hunt could be called off, depending on the extent of damage to
the ship said Hajime Ishikawa of the ship's research institute, saying
that if the ship has to be brought into port it would be 'difficult' to
continue with the hunt.
Japan insists its whaling activities are for reasearch purposes, but
environmental groups point out that the tons of whale meet processed on
the NISSHIN MARU are sold to the Japanese consumer. They say the research
is a front for keeping the Japanese whaling industry viable.
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