Missing whaler named as fire rages February 15, 2007 - 12:10PM
Fears are growing for a sailor missing since a fire broke out on board a Japanese whaling ship in Antarctic waters early this morning. The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) - which directs the ship - said the missing sailor is 27-year-old Kazutaka Makita, of Kagoshima in Japan's south. "He was working in the area where the fire started,'' ICR spokesman Gabriel Gomez said. The ship issued a distress call about 3.15am (AEDT) today. Mr Gomez said about 26 crew remained on the factory ship, Nisshin Maru, to fight the fire. The remainder of the 161 crew had been evacuated to three of the fleet's other vessels in the Ross Sea. The New Zealand government said it has serious concerns for the pristine Antarctic environment if the fire caused oil to leak from the vessel. "Our priority is to work with the Japanese fleet to get the Nisshin Maru's crew to safety," New Zealand Minister for Conservation, Chris Carter, said. "However, we are also gravely concerned about the environmental risk to Antarctica's pristine environment if the ship is sufficiently damaged to begin leaking oil. "We are working on contingencies to deal with this scenario at present. "In the meantime, I wish the Japanese crew fighting the fire on the Nisshin Maru every good fortune. Their efforts will be crucial to averting further catastrophe." Equipped with a stern ramp to bring aboard whales from catcher vessels, Nisshin Maru is vital to the Japanese whaling effort. On its decks the whales are measured by researchers and then cut up by flensing crews before the meat is passed down to be processed further in the factory space, boxed and stored in cavernous blast freezers. The Japanese whaling season still had several weeks to run as it hunted up to 935 minke whales and 10 fin whales, but extensive damage to the factory deck could prevent it from continuing. This is the second fire aboard the converted fishing trawler that has been a whaling factory ship for nearly 20 years. In the first, a crewman died in the blaze aboard the ship off New Caledonia on its way to the Antarctic in November 1998. The ship limped back to Japan, was repaired, and sent south again in time to complete a season's whaling. Nisshin Maru also carries extra stores and fuel to be used by the three chaser ships and two whale spotting vessels. - with Andrew Darby, Jano Gibson and AAP --------------------------------- Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
