“It is clear that the vessel is in
danger, that it threatens the fragile Antarctic marine environment,
and that time is of the essence,” wrote Greenpeace USA Executive
Director John Passacantando in a letter faxed to Secretary Rice.
“As each day passes, the window of opportunity closes and the
possibility of grounding or of encountering severe storms
increases,” he continued.
The Nisshin Maru is part of the
six-vessel whaling fleet that has been hunting whales in the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary for weeks. The United States is a
member of the Antarctic Treaty which recognizes Antarctica as a
place of peace and science. It also requires that any activity
carried out in the Treaty Area that could cause environmental
damage have an environmental impact assessment and that nations are
liable for any harm that they cause that could have been prevented.
While it is disputed as to whether whaling is an activity covered
by the terms of the Treaty, the fire onboard the Nisshin Maru and
subsequent events constitute an environmental emergency. Under
international law, if Japan does not take prompt and effective
action, other countries are encouraged to respond. Greenpeace is
working globally to rally international support to remove the
Nisshin Maru from Antarctic waters, but has yet to receive any
positive response from the government of Japan to its offer of
assistance.
“With the international forum
governing whaling, the International Whaling Commission, meeting in
Anchorage this coming May, the U.S. government stands at a
crossroads: it must protect the international waters of Antarctica
from two of its greatest threats: pollution and senseless whaling,”
said Karen Sack, Whales Project Leader with Greenpeace USA. “The
time to act is now, and Greenpeace has the only vessel in the area
with the proper gear and necessary sea salvage capabilities,” she
continued.
The letter was also copied to Dr Bill
Hogarth, the U.S. representative to (and current Chairman of) the
International Whaling Commission, John Field of the U.S. State
Department, and Gerhard Kuska, of the White House’s Council on
Environmental Quality.
The M/Y Esperanza is an ice class
vessel that was originally built as a Soviet fire-fighting vessel
in 1984, and was purchased by Greenpeace in 2000 and re-constructed
for the international group’s environmental advocacy needs.
Esperanza has towing experience, a crew of 38, and a captain with
ten years’ sea-salvage experience. None of the vessels in the
Japanese whaling fleet are ice-classed.
Other contacts: [email protected]
Exp. contact date: 2007-03-21 00:00:00
