Japan plans for new whale factory ship

Japan is planning to build a new, bigger factory ship to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean.

The news came amid unconfirmed reports that Japan would not be killing endangered humpback whales during in its current hunt, as it had earlier declared. The possibility was raised by the US ambassador to Japan, Thomas Schieffer, but the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that no agreement to abandon the humpback hunt exists. The stated Japanese plan this year is to hunt 900 minke whales, 50 fin whales and 50 humpbacks. The possibility of Japan building a new whaling factory ship to replace the Nisshin Maru, which was damaged by fire earlier this year, was first raised in May in Suisan Keizai, a Japanese fishing industry publication. The Nisshin Maru needs to offload cargo to a companion ship during the annual hunt. Greenpeace quizzed 23 Japanese shipbuilding companies, and believes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has been negotiating for the contract to build the new ship.
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