Follow the timeline... accidental fire my ass
Japanese officials said the blaze that broke out in the below-decks area of the ship where whale carcasses are processed was under control
Most of the 148-member crew of the 8,000-ton Nisshin Maru were evacuated Thursday to three other ships from the Japanese whaling fleet in the area, said Hideki Moronuki, an official with the Japan Fisheries Agency.
The Nisshin Maru sent out a distress call early Thursday after the fire broke out, said Steve Corbett, a spokesman for Maritime New Zealand.
The Nisshin Maru was the flagship of a Japanese whaling flotilla harassed this month by activists from the conservation group Sea Shepherd, who have thrown foul-smelling acid and other objects at the ships to try to keep them from hunting whales.
A Sea Shepherd ship collided with a Japanese ship earlier in recent days, causing damage but no injuries.
Sea Shepherd on Wednesday gave up its chase as it started to run out of fuel
The Sea Shepherd crew has successfully delivered six liters of butyric acid onto the flensing deck of the Nisshin Maru. This "butter acid" is a nontoxic obnoxious smelling substance. The foul smell has cleared the flensing deck and stopped all work of cutting up whales.
Who hit who?
On Monday, February 12, 2007, the Japanese whaling ship Kaiko Maru was intercepted by the Sea Shepherd ship Robert Hunter as it was chasing a pod of whales. The Robert Hunter intervened by crossing in front of the Kaiko Maru, which allowed the whales to escape.
The Kaiko Maru then came alongside the Robert Hunter and swerved into the starboard side of the Sea Shepherd ship to push it into some ice.
The Robert Hunter’s hull was penetrated and a large hole ripped open into the forward compartment area above the main deck. The shoving of the Robert Hunter against the ice caused damage below the water line on the port side of the engine room compartment.
Both ships then moved into the ice and then began to work their way out of the floe when, suddenly, the Kaiko Maru backed up and rammed into the stern port side of the Robert Hunter. This collision penetrated the hull and opened a one-meter gash in the bulwarks above the main deck.
After striking the Robert Hunter twice, the Kaiko Maru then issued a Maritime Distress signal. Both the Robert Hunter and the Farley Mowat responded to the distress request but the Kaiko Maru would not respond. New Zealand Search and Rescue informed both Sea Shepherd ships that the Kaiko Maru reported they were in “grave and imminent danger”
The collisions were fully documented by the film crew onboard the Robert Hunter. This evidence clearly shows what occurred.
Furthermore, Sea Shepherd has no problem with admitting to ramming a whaling ship involved with illegal whaling, if we had in fact done so. We have always accepted responsibility for our actions. In this case, Sea Shepherd categorically refutes the Japanese accusations that they were rammed.
The Farley Mowat and the Robert Hunter are focusing their attentions specifically on the Nisshin Maru, the factory ship of the whaling fleet.
If the Mowat hit the Kaiko they would be bragging about it... since this is not the case I call shennanigans on the Japanese
i'd love to see that!
