Create a New Forum Admin Login Member Login Contribute to Voyager Search VoyForums Help Desk VoyForums Exchange VoyForums Directory/Categories VoyForums Homepage VoyForums News FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, [4], 5 ]

Subject: Fly the flag should have meant sink their ship... Author: DE [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 05:08:21 03/26/07 Mon Japan Whaling Ship Returns with 500 Whales, Shrouded in Questions March 23, 2007 — By Hans Greimel, Associated Press TOKYO -- A Japanese whaling ship that triggered a high-seas showdown with environmental groups and suffered a deadly fire was due back in port Friday with a catch of 508 whales, despite having to cut its annual hunt short after the accident. The homecoming, however, was dogged with questions, as authorities prepared to investigate the below-deck blaze that killed a sailor and crippled the ship as well as the anti-whaling protests that had earlier tried to block the hunt. Journalists were being barred from the Tokyo wharf where the processing ship Nisshin Maru was expected to dock with its crew of 149. Japan's Fisheries said it would hold a news conference only next week after the investigation has progressed. The Nissin Maru's return brings an early end this year's hunt in the icy waters off Antarctica, which had been scheduled to continue through the end of March. It was the first time in 20 years that Japan had to abort its whaling mission. Still, the six-vessel fleet managed to kill 508 whales out of a target of 860. After scientific research is conducted on the animals, the meat will be sold to market where it is snapped up as a culinary delicacy by the Japanese. The fire aboard the Nisshin Maru broke out last month, killing one crew member and leaving the ship unable to sail under its own power for 10 days. The accident prompted strong protests from the New Zealand government and from the environmental group Greenpeace over potential oil and chemical spills. The fleet had been earlier harried by protests by the group Sea Shepherd. Japanese video depicted protesters aboard a Sea Shepherd ship -- flying a skull-and-crossbones pirate flag -- launching smoke canisters, throwing containers filled with chemicals, and dropping ropes and nets to entangle the Japanese ships' propellors. The Nisshin Maru was eventually repaired and able to return to Japan. It is the second ship in the fleet to come home. Three more spotter ships are scheduled to return Saturday and the final vessel on Sunday. Japan's fleet is part of a scientific whaling program that Tokyo says provides crucial data for the International Whaling Commission on populations, feeding habits and distribution of the mammals in the seas near Antarctica. The hunts are allowed by the International Whaling Commission, but environmental group have long condemned the hunts as a pretext for keeping commercial whaling alive after the practice was banned by the IWC in 1986. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]