Crews still working on Japanese whaler - AP

[Eugene]

Crews still working on Japanese whaler

By RAY LILLEY, Associated Press Writer

Tue Feb 20, 1:39 AM ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Repair crews failed Tuesday to restart the engine
of a crippled Japanese whaler but were not yet planning to tow the ship away
from the pristine Antarctic coastline, an official said.

Steve Corbett, whose organization Maritime New Zealand has been in daily
contact with the stricken Nisshin Maru since a fire broke out on board
Thursday, said no significant progress was reported on getting the ship moving
under its own power.

-snip-

New Zealand's Conservation Minister said Tuesday that the crippled whaler was
unlikely to be allowed to enter the waters of the strongly anti-whaling nation
if the vessel has to be towed to port for repairs.

-snip-

The ship sustained less damage than originally thought, but if the engines don't
restart, the Nisshin Maru will be towed out of the area by other ships in the six-
vessel fleet, Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research spokesman Glenn Inwood
told New Zealand's National Radio.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070220/ap_on_re_au_an/antarctica_whaling_ship_fire_1

[Eugene]

1. Stricken Japanese whaler prepared to leave Antarctica - AFP

Stricken Japanese whaler prepared to leave Antarctica

Tue Feb 20, 2:32 AM ET

WELLINGTON (AFP) - Days of wrangling over the fate of a stricken Japanese whaler off the
Antarctic coast have appeared to be nearing an end as the ship's operators said they were
preparing to move it away.

The Japanese have rejected all offers of outside help, drawing a warning from New Zealand
Prime Minister Helen Clark that Tokyo faced international condemnation if the crippled
Nisshin Maru sparked an environmental disaster.

A day after Clark said the ship must be moved, and that she was prepared to raise the issue
with her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe if necessary, the fleet operators said measures
were under way to move the vessel.

-snip-

Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for Japan's whaling programme, said Tuesday that the ship's crew
had restored generator power to the vessel.

Inwood said the ship had sustained less damage than originally thought but he told Radio New
Zealand that if the engines failed to work, the Nisshin Maru would be towed out of the area
by other ships in the whaling fleet.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070220/wl_asia_afp/nzealandjapanantarcticwhalingfire_070220073252