A whaling ship disabled in Antarctic waters by a fire on board was not leaking oil and posed no environmental threat, Japan said yesterday, adding that it may have to abandon this season's whale hunt in the ice-strewn waters of the Southern Ocean because of the fire.
Japanese officials yesterday rejected Greenpeace's offer of a tow out of the area, but added that other ships in the whaling fleet were alongside the stricken vessel and could give any help needed.
New Zealand officials and environmentalists have expressed concern that the 8,000-tonne Nisshin Maru -- left without engine power by the fire and carrying hundreds of thousands of liters of oil -- could threaten the Antarctic's biggest penguin rookery at Cape Adare, about 175km away.
One crewman is missing, presumed dead.
Conservation Minister Chris Carter of New Zealand, an anti-whaling nation that also has responsibility for maritime rescues in the area, urged the Japanese government to use either the Greenpeace ship Esperanza or a US icebreaker in the area to move the vessel.
"It is imperative the Nisshin Maru is towed further away from the pristine Antarctic coast, the neighboring penguin colony and the perilous ice floes," Carter said.
Greenpeace said it was willing and able to help.
"We have the capacity and we're on the spot," Greenpeace spokeswoman Cindy Baxter said.
Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the Japanese government-affiliated Institute of Cetacean Research, said no help was needed.
"The whole Greenpeace offer is a red herring. Their assistance is not required and will not be accepted," Inwood told reporters.
Whaling ship the Oriental Bluebird was alongside the Nisshin Maru and "fully able" to tow it out of the area if required, Inwood said.
"The main priority is to locate the missing sailor, clear the smoke then decide whether to move the Nisshin Maru or repair it on the spot -- if that's possible," Inwood added.
Crew went below decks yesterday and set up fans to try to cool the burned-out part of the ship and blow out dense smoke that has filled the vessel since the blaze broke out early on Thursday.
The Nisshin Maru is the only ship in the fleet able to process whale carcasses and the season may have to be abandoned if the ship is inoperable.
The fleet planned to hunt up to 945 whales from mid-December to the middle of next month.
Japan says its annual whale hunt of hundreds of whales, begun after the International Whaling Commission imposed a global ban on commercial whaling in 1986, are for "research."
Environmental groups say the hunts are a pretext to keep Japan's whaling industry alive.
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