The Nisshin Maru is motoring ``a couple of hundred nautical miles north'' of where it became stranded, Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the boat's Japanese owners, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, said in an interview today from Wellington. ``They will make a decision whether to stay or whether to return to Japan mid-way through the week.''
The boat's factory deck caught fire Feb. 15, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the world's biggest Adelie penguin colony at Cape Adare on the Antarctic coast. New Zealand, concerned that fuel would leak into the Southern Ocean and cause an environmental disaster, on Feb. 16 called on Japan and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha to move the boat as soon as possible.
The Nisshin Maru, along with sighting and harpooning ships, set sail in November to kill as many as 935 minke whales and 10 fin whales under the government's research program. A Japanese fleet heads to the Southern Ocean at this time every year. Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha's stakeholders consist of Japanese government organizations including the Institute of Cetacean Research.
Crewman Kazutaka Makita died in the blaze that took several days to extinguish. The cause of the fire isn't yet known.
Undergoing Tests
The five other ships in the Japanese fleet are cruising with the Nisshin Maru as it tests its steering and navigation systems, Inwood said.
``The ICR will make a decision with the owners and the government of Japan on whether to keep whaling,'' he said, adding that the crew will report to Tokyo whether the factory deck is too damaged to process meat.
International whaling treaties ban ships from hunting whale if they are unable to process the meat.
New Zealand's Conservation Minister Chris Carter is ``delighted'' the ship has left the Ross Sea, spokesman Nick Maling said by telephone today from Wellington.
``We gather the Japanese are not going to resume whaling and are pleased about that,'' Maling said.
Japan's government says the whaling program is needed to prove that whale populations are increasing to the extent that a return to commercial whaling, banned under the terms of the International Whaling Committee treaty, is sustainable.
Clark Comments
Japan has had a ``disastrous'' whaling season, New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark told reporters in Wellington today.
``It surely sends a strong signal to Japan that what happens with its whaling fleet is bad for its international reputation,'' Clark said.
Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha rejected an offer last week for the environmental group Greenpeace to tow the Nisshin Maru out of Antarctic waters. Greenpeace's boat the Esperanza is following the fleet north, said Bunny McDiarmid, executive director for the organization in New Zealand.
``We'd be very surprised if they had a ship that could go back into the whaling business,'' McDiarmid said from Auckland. ``We'll continue to follow them to the door and hope they never come back.''
Greenpeace is campaigning for a total ban on whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
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