Press release - March 9, 2007
The Greenpeace ship Esperanza will spend 48 hours re-supplying in Australia, after 42 days at sea and then sail directly for Japan to continue to campaign for an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean.
The crew of theEsperanza spent over a week on stand by to assist the fire-disabled whalingfactory ship, Nisshin Maru in the Ross Sea in Antarctica last month, to ensurethe safety of the vessel and its crew as well as witness any possibleenvironmental impacts from the fire. The Greenpeace ship then escorted theentire whaling fleet out of Antarctic waters.
"Whaling onthe high seas will only stop when the Japanese government commits to endingit," said Expedition Leader Karli Thomas. "What we saw in theSouthern Ocean should be a clear signal to the government and people of Japanthat this must be the last season that a whaling fleet goes to the SouthernOcean Whale Sanctuary."
It is reported thatthe government of Japan intends to repair the Nisshin Maru and continue towhale later this year, including plans to increase to fifty the number ofendangered fin whales hunted and add fifty threatened humpback whales to thequota of 935 minke whales for the Southern Ocean in nine months time.
According to arecent survey, two-thirds of Japanese people do not support what theirgovernment is doing in the Southern Ocean.
"While we werewith the disabled fleet we generated a level of debate on this issue in Japan thathas been unprecedented, questioning the validity of the government whalingprogramme. However, it has become obvious that the Japanese government wants togive the incident as low a profile as possible," said Junichi Sato,Greenpeace Japan whales campaign coordinator.
This is the secondtime the Nisshin Maru had a fire on board in the last nine years. The cause ofthe blaze has not been disclosed, despite the fact that resulted in the deathof one of the crew.
"We began apositive dialogue from ship to ship in the Southern Ocean during the emergencywith the Nisshin Maru and we plan to continue and broaden that dialogue fromship to shore when the Esperanza comes to Japan." Sato added.
Greenpeace alsoplans to invite representatives of the Fisheries Agency of Japan and theInstitute for Cetacean Research on board the Esperanza when she arrives inTokyo.
VVPR info: Sara Holden, Greenpeace International Communications, on board the Esperanza: + 872 324 469 014 (satellite phone)Junichi Sato: Greenpeace Japan, in Tokyo: + 81 90 7713 7301For Video and Photos, please contact: Nick Young in Auckland, New Zealand: +6498466774