Nisshin Maru#History
{{Short description|Whaling factory ship of the Japanese whaling fleet}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
| display title = ital }} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = Nisshin Maru.svg | Ship caption = Nisshin Maru }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Japan | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Japan|civil}} | Ship name = Nisshin Maru (Previously Chikuzen Maru){{Cite web |url=http://www.classnk.or.jp/register/regships/one.aspx |title=Nisshin Maru – 8705292 |access-date=February 12, 2014 |archive-date=March 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321015800/http://www.classnk.or.jp/register/regships/one.aspx |url-status=dead }} | Ship identification = *{{IMO Number|8705292}}
| Ship namesake = | Ship owner = Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd | Ship operator = | Ship registry = JapanLloyd's Register – Fairplay. Retrieved February 20, 2007 | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = Hitachi Zosen Corporation Innoshima Works | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = August 30, 1987 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = 2020 | Ship in service = Decommissioned{{cite web | url=https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:664599/mmsi:-8705292/imo:8705292/vessel:NISSHIN_MARU | title=Ship NISSHIN MARU (Fishery Research Vessel) Registered in Japan - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 8705292, MMSI -8705292, Call Sign JJCJ }} | Ship out of service = 2020 | Ship homeport = Shimonoseki Harbor, Tokyo, Japan | Ship fate = | Ship status = In active service | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = Whaling factory ship | Ship tonnage = {{GT|8,145|disp=long}} | Ship length = {{convert|129.58|m|ftin|abbr=on}} o/a | Ship beam = {{convert|19.4|m|ftin|abbr=on}} (moulded) | Ship draft = {{convert|11.7|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion = 5,383 kw (7315 bhp) | Ship speed = *Max: {{Convert|16|kn|km/h|1}}
| Ship range = | Ship complement = | Ship notes = }} |
{{nihongo|Nisshin Maru|日新丸}} was the primary vessel{{Cite web |url=http://www.maff.go.jp/e/quake/press_110331-8.html |title=農林水産省/Assistance Transportation for Damaged Areas by the 2011 Off the Pacific Coast Tohoku Earthquake (March 28) |access-date=September 4, 2011 |archive-date=August 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804204202/http://www.maff.go.jp/e/quake/press_110331-8.html |url-status=dead }} of the Japanese whaling fleet and was the world's only whaler factory ship.{{cite news |title=New rules for safe shipping may save whales |last=Darby |first=Andrew |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=July 18, 2009 |url=http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/new-rules-for-safe-shipping-may-save-whales-20090717-do9b.html}} It was the research base ship for the Institute of Cetacean Research for 2002 to 2007.{{cite web |url=https://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/whale/attach/pdf/index-3.pdf |title=Proposed Research Plan for New Scientific Whale Research Program in the western North Pacific (NEWREP-NP) |work=Government of Japan |page=155 (Annex 21) |access-date=May 30, 2022 |date=n.d. }} It had a tonnage of {{GT|8,145}} and is the largest member and flagship of the five-ship whaling fleet, headed by leader Shigetoshi Nishiwaki. The ship was based in Japan in Shimonoseki harbor{{cite news|title=Protest as Japan whaling factory ship returns to port|agency=AFP |date=April 14, 2009|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hKYWJEHVeSjNxcIvaNQ-vqL-NABw|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418213326/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hKYWJEHVeSjNxcIvaNQ-vqL-NABw|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 18, 2009}} and was owned by Tokyo-based Kyodo Senpaku, which is a subsidiary of the Institute of Cetacean Research.[https://www.classnk.or.jp/register/regships/one_dsp.aspx?imo=8705292 Nisshin Maru]. ClassNK Register of Ships.
File:Japan Factory Ship Nisshin Maru Whaling Mother and Calf.jpgs, including a 1-year-old juvenile, being loaded aboard Nisshin Maru. This photograph was taken in the Southern Ocean by agents from the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service vessel, during a 2008 surveillance mission.{{cite web
|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/garrett/2008/pubs/tr20080207a.pdf
|author=Hon. P. Garrett MP, Australian Minister for the Environment, and Hon. B. Debus MP, Australian Minister for Home Affairs
|title=Whaling Announcement – Release of images from the Oceanic Viking, Interview Transcript
|location=Maroubra, NSW, Australia
|date=February 7, 2008}}]]
File:World's only whaler factory ship, Nisshin Maru, at 日立造船因島工場 10.jpg]]
History
There have been several Japanese factory whaling ships named Nisshin Maru.{{cite journal | title = Chronological Notes on the Commissioned Japanese Whaling Factory Ships | journal = Bull. Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University | date = 1980 | first = Akito | last = KAWAMURA | volume = 31 | issue = 2 | pages = 184–190|url=http://eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/23715/1/31(2)_P184-190.pdf | access-date = February 11, 2014}} After the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet was attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, all Japanese factory ships soon began to serve in the war effort till sunk or till the end of World War II in 1945.
- Nisshin Maru (16,764 grt), commissioned in 1936, was a whaling factory ship built by Taiyo Gyogyo from a purchased blueprint of the Norwegian factory ship Sir James Clark Ross.{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/Nisshin_t.htm | title = Japanese Oilers: IJN Nisshin Maru | access-date = February 13, 2014 | last = Hackett | first = Bob |author2=Peter Cundall | date = 2009}} This Nisshin Maru was sunk by the submarine {{USS|Trout|SS-202|6}} in Balabac Strait, Borneo on May 16, 1944.{{cite web |url=http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25513&page=51 | title = 3rd February in Military History | access-date = February 13, 2014 | date = February 10, 2006 | work = Armchair General}}
- Nisshin Maru No. 2 (17,579 grt) built by Taiyo Gyogyo, was commissioned in 1937 and was damaged on February 7, 1943 by two torpedoes fired from {{USS|Trout|SS-202|6}}. One Japanese historian reports that it was then towed and scrapped south of Ishigaki Island on April 16, 1943, while an American source reports that the vessel was sunk on May 6, 1944 by three torpedoes fired from the submarine {{USS|Crevalle|SS-291|6}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/Nisshin_t.htm | title = IJN Nishin Maru: Tabular Record of Movement| access-date = February 13, 2014 | date = 2009 | work = Imperial Japanese Navy Page}}
General Douglas MacArthur, as military governor of Japan in 1945, encouraged the now defeated Japan to continue whaling in order to provide a cheap source of meat to its starving people, and to supply millions of dollars in oil for the United States and Europe.{{Cite book
| last = Ellis
| first = Richard
| publisher = The Lyons Press
| title = Men and Whales
| year = 1999
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kygGAAAACAAJ&q=men+and+whales
| page = 405
| isbn = 978-1-55821-696-9
| access-date = August 16, 2013
|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/climate-watch/blame-general-macarthur-for-whaling-row/2007/12/18/1197740272644.html
| title = Blame General MacArthur for whaling row
| first = Brendan
| last = Nicholson
| date = December 19, 2007
|work=The Age
| location=Melbourne
| access-date =December 19, 2009
}} The Japanese whaling industry quickly recovered as MacArthur authorized the commission of two converted T2 tankers as whaling factory ships (Hashidate Maru[http://www.combinedfleet.com/HashidateM_t.htm IJN Hashidate Maru: Tabular Record of Movement.] Imperial Japanese Navy Page (2008) and Nisshin Maru No. 1),{{cite book | last1 = Kalland | first1 = Arne | last2 = Brian | first2 = Moeran | title = Japanese Whaling?: End of an Era | volume = 6 | work = RLE: Japan Mini-Set E: Sociology & Anthropology | date = September 7, 2010 | publisher = Taylor & Francis, 2010 | isbn = 978-0203843970}}{{cite news | first = Siobhan | last = Downes | title = Fight to save whales relentless | date = January 11, 2014 |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9598415/Fight-to-save-whales-relentless | work = The Dominion Post | access-date = January 28, 2014}} to once again hunt whales in the Antarctic and elsewhere.
- Nisshin Maru No. 1 (11,803 tons) was originally a standard T2 oil tanker built in the United States during World War II. It was reconstructed by Taiyo Gyogyo in 1945 and commissioned as a Japanese whaling factory in 1946. Nisshin Maru No. 1 was commissioned until the 1950/51 season. After mooring for three years, she reemerged as the factory Kinjo Maru (11,051 tons) and worked from 1954 to 1964.
- Nisshin Maru (16,777 tons) was a new whaling factory ship constructed in 1951. It was commissioned in the 1951/52 season to replace Nisshin Maru No. 1 that was being refitted. Nisshin Maru stopped her activity as a whaling factory from the 1969/70 season. After being decommissioned from the whaling business, it worked as an oil tanker supplying fuel oil for fishing vessels on the high seas, and was then sold to the People's Republic of China in April 1973.
- Nisshin Maru No. 2 In 1957, Taiyo Gyogoy purchased Abraham Larsen (23,326 tons) from the Republic of South Africa, fitted it out and renamed it Nisshin Maru No. 2 (27,035 tons). Nisshin Maru No.2 was the first ship to be decommissioned as a whaling factory from the beginning of the 1965/66 season, and worked thereafter as the mother ship of a fish meal factory in the North Pacific and Bering Sea.
- Nisshin Maru No. 3 The ship was built in 1947 by Gotaverken Cityvarvet of Sweden and was originally named Kosmos III (18,047 tons).[http://maritime-connector.com/ship/nisshin-maru-no3-5253494/ NISSHIN MARU NO.3 – 5253494 – WHALE FACTORY]. Maritimr Connector. It was sold in 1961 to Taiyo Gyogyo, fitted it and changed her name to Nisshin Maru No. 3 (23,106 tons). It is now decommissioned from whaling.{{when|date=February 2014}}[http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/-5253494/vessel:NISSHIN_MARU_NO_3 Nisshin Maru No. 3 – decommissioned]
- Nisshin Maru The latest Nisshin Maru (8,030-tons) was built by Hitachi Zosen Corporation Innoshima Works and launched in 1987 as Chikuzen Maru. It was purchased in 1991 by Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd., fitted and commissioned as a whaler factory ship.[http://www.icrwhale.org/070216Releasea.html ICR: Nisshin Maru Facts and Photographs]. ICR (2007) It remains a whaler factory ship, but following the September 2018 Florianopolis Declaration by the IWC, Japan withdrew its IWC membership on December 26, 2018.[https://www.yahoo.com/news/iwc-passes-brazil-project-protect-whales-202112629.html IWC passes Brazil project to protect whales]. Denis Barnett. AFP. Published by Yahoo News. September 13, 2018.[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/iwc-rejects-japan-proposal-lift-commercial-whale-hunting-ban-180913222708438.html IWC rejects Japan's proposal to lift commercial whale hunting ban]. David Child, Aljazeera. September 14, 2018. The vessel is no longer contracted by the Institute of Cetacean Research, and it resumed commercial hunting in Japan's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone on July 1, 2019.[https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/25/asia/japan-withdrawal-international-whaling-commission-intl/index.html "IWC withdrawal: Japan to resume commercial whaling in 2019"]. Euan McKirdy, Emiko Jozuka, Junko Ogura. CNN News. December 26, 2018.[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/world/asia/japan-whaling-withdrawal.html "Japan to Resume Commercial Whaling, Defying International Ban"]. The New York Times. December 26, 2018.[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/07/02/national/australia-disappointed-japans-return-commercial-whaling/#.XWl72EnsZUE Australia 'disappointed' by Japan's return to commercial whaling.] The Japan Times. July 2019. A subsidy of 5.1 billion yen (US$47.31 million) was budgeted for commercial whaling in 2019,[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-whaling-whalewatching/in-japan-the-business-of-watching-whales-overshadows-resumption-of-hunt-idUSKCN1U402J In Japan, the business of watching whales overshadows resumption of hunt]. Reuters. July 8, 2019. and was expected to hunt 227 minke whales by the end of 2019.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/japans-resumption-of-commercial-whaling-could-set-a-dangerous-precedent/2019/07/07/4bb677cc-9c46-11e9-b27f-ed2942f73d70_story.html?noredirect=on Japan's resumption of commercial whaling could set a dangerous precedent.] The Washington Post. July 7, 2019.
2007 Antarctic voyage
A major fire in the ship's processing factory broke out on February 15, 2007 while in Antarctic waters. The resulting damage caused the ship to be temporarily disabled, all while continuing to carry 340,000 gallons of oil.{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna17377113 |title=Japan cuts short Antarctic whale hunt |date=February 28, 2007 |access-date=May 30, 2022 |work=NBC News |quote=Nisshin Maru — carrying 343,000 gallons of fuel oil }} This incident took place within the New Zealand Search and Rescue Region.{{citation|url=http://www.aip.net.nz/pdf/GEN_3.6.pdf |title=Search and rescue |work=Aeronautical Information Publication New Zealand |date=July 6, 2006}} One crew member was killed in the fire.{{cite news |title=Japanese whaling ship on fire off Antarctica |first=Rob |last=Taylor |work=Reuters |date=February 14, 2007 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSYD304958 |access-date=May 30, 2022}}{{cite news|title=Japanese whaler may move, activists fear oil spill |work=Reuters |date=February 21, 2007 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-whaling/japanese-whaler-may-move-activists-fear-oil-spill-idUST15518220070221 |access-date=May 30, 2022}}
Citing environmental concerns, specifically the disabled ship's proximity to Cape Adare, Antarctica and the world's largest Adelie penguin rookery, New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter joined international citizens' groups in urgently requesting that the ship be towed away.{{cite news |title=New Zealand demands Japan urgently move its stricken whaler from Antarctic coast |newspaper=International Herald Tribune |date=February 23, 2007 |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/23/asia/AS-GEN-Antarctica-Crippled-Whaler.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314162006/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/23/asia/AS-GEN-Antarctica-Crippled-Whaler.php |archive-date=March 14, 2007 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2007/2/19/nz-warns-japan-over-crippled-whaler |title=NZ warns Japan over crippled whaler |date=February 19, 2007 |access-date=May 30, 2022 |work=Al Jazeera}} Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which used to administer the ship with the Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, declined offers of a tow from the Greenpeace ship {{MV|Esperanza}}, which had been nearby and monitoring the situation since February 17. On February 28, the Institute of Cetacean Research released a statement on its decision to cut short its Antarctic whale hunt for 2006/07 due to unrecoverable equipment, and Nisshin Maru departed for Japan for repairs, cutting short its whaling season for the first time in 20 years.{{cite news |url=https://www.icrwhale.org/pdf/070228Release.pdf |title=Decision Made on Nisshin Maru |work=Institute for Cetacean Research |location=Tokyo |date=February 28, 2007 |access-date=May 30, 2022 }}
Other incidents
Nisshin Maru and Greenpeace's {{MV|Arctic Sunrise}} collided in December 1999 and in January 2006. In 2006 both ships claimed to have been rammed by the other,{{cite web|title=Greenpeace ship rammed by whalers|publisher=Greenpeace|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/whaling/antarctic-whaling/ramming|access-date=February 19, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215164212/http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/whaling/antarctic-whaling/ramming|archive-date=December 15, 2007|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} and the ICR posted video footage to support its version of the incident.{{cite video|title=VIDEO TAKEN BY ICR : ARCTIC SUNRISE RAMMING THE NISSHIN-MARU|publisher=Institute of Cetacean Research|url=http://www.icrwhale.org/eng/GPAS2.mpg|access-date=March 3, 2010}} Greenpeace responded that the waves emanating from Arctic Sunrise in the video support Greenpeace's contention that its vessel had its engines in reverse; Greenpeace also claimed the location of cloud formations in the background of the ICR video indicate Nisshin Maru was turning into the Greenpeace ship at the time of collision.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society claimed its president Paul Watson was shot by someone aboard Nisshin Maru during a confrontation with the {{MY|Steve Irwin}} off Antarctica in 2008. He was wearing a bulletproof vest and was uninjured. An ICR spokesman acknowledged that seven flashbangs were thrown, but stated that "no gunshots of any kind" were fired.{{cite news|title=Japan denies shooting anti-whaling captain|agency=AAP|date=March 8, 2008|url=http://www.news.com.au/japan-denies-shooting-anti-whaling-captain/story-e6frfkp9-1111115745322 | first1=Michelle | last1=Draper | first2=Adam | last2=Gartrell }}
In March 2011, Nisshin Maru returned early from operations in the Southern Ocean and immediately began assisting in disaster relief efforts following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, transporting food, fuel, and other supplies to areas devastated by the catastrophe.{{cite news |title=Japanese whaling mothership aids in tsunami disaster relief efforts |agency=Nikkei.com |date=March 24, 2011 |url=http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20110324D24JF873.htm }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
In February 2013, Nisshin Maru was involved in a multiple-ship collision, colliding with the Sea Shepherd vessels Steve Irwin, {{MY|Bob Barker}}, and {{MY|Sam Simon}},{{cite news| url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Sea-Shepherd-claims-victory-in-Southern-Ocean-after-collisions/tabid/417/articleID/287594/Default.aspx| work=3 News NZ| first=Kim| last=Choe| title=Sea Shepherd claims victory over whalers| date=February 21, 2013| access-date=February 20, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926081649/http://www.3news.co.nz/Sea-Shepherd-claims-victory-in-Southern-Ocean-after-collisions/tabid/417/articleID/287594/Default.aspx| archive-date=September 26, 2013| url-status=dead| df=mdy-all}} as well as the whaler's refueling ship, Sun Laurel.{{cite web|title=Whalers' 'ramming' damages Sea Shepherd ship|publisher=The Age|url=http://www.theage.com.au/environment/whale-watch/whalers-ramming-damages-sea-shepherd-ship-20130220-2eqyg.html|access-date=February 19, 2013}} Bob Barker was damaged and issued a mayday. Sun Laurel{{'}}s lifeboats were also damaged due to the collision.
IMO regulations
Additional regulations from the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) took effect on August 1, 2011 prohibiting ships using heavy oil fuel below 60 degrees south to prevent pollution. The IMO Guidelines For Ships Operating In Ice-Covered Waters also establishes requirements for a double-hull strengthened against ice-related damage. {{As of|2011}} Nisshin Maru did not meet the IMO standards.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/new-rules-for-safe-shipping-may-save-whales-20090717-do9b.html|title=New rules for safe shipping may save whales|last=Darby|first=Andrew|date=July 18, 2009|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald}}{{cite press release|publisher=International Maritime Organization (IMO)|date=July 29, 2011|title=Antarctic fuel oil ban and North American ECA MARPOL amendments enter into force on 1 August 2011|url=http://www.imo.org/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/Pages/44-MARPOL-amends.aspx}}{{cite news|url=http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/2008-04-10-imo-backing-antarctic-ship-review|title=IMO Backing Antarctic Ship Review|date=March 9, 2011|publisher=The Maritime Executive|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407064636/http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/2008-04-10-imo-backing-antarctic-ship-review|archive-date=April 7, 2012|df=mdy-all}}
In popular culture
Nisshin Maru is featured in the video game Ship Simulator Extremes, along with Kyo Maru # 1 and the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza with its outboard inflatable boats and RIBs.
Matthew Barney filmed Drawing Restraint 9 on Nisshin Maru in 2005, as it made its annual journey to Antarctica.
Nisshin Maru is the name of a whaler factory vessel that is chased by Greenpeace and a German/Chilean press officer in Luis Sepulveda's book Mundo del fin del mundo.
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110111122220/http://icrwhale.org/eng-index.htm Institute of Cetacean Research]
- [http://www.greenpeace.or.jp Greenpeace Japan]
- [http://seashepherd.org/ Sea Shepherd Conservation Society]
{{Whaling fleet of the Institute of Cetacean Research}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2014}}
Category:Maritime incidents in 2007
Category:Fishing vessels of Japan
Category:Research vessels of Japan