Indonesia Rebuffs Japanese Whaling Ship Amid Widespread Outcry Over Annual Hunt

Febriamy Hutapea, Jakarta Globe 15 Jan 09;

A Japanese whaling vessel was forced to leave Indonesian waters on Thursday after the government rejected its request to dock at the state-owned PT PAL shipyard in Surabaya, East Java Province, an official said on Thursday.

“We asked the Japanese whaling ship to go and it has left. We don’t want to support any illegal fishing,” said Sumarto Suharno, head of the East Java Natural Resources Conservation Office, or KSDA.

The Yushin Maru 2 whaling vessel had been off the coast of Surabaya for six days while waiting for Indonesian approval to dock so it could repair a propeller damaged during a whale hunt in the Southern Ocean.

The Japanese Consulate General in Surabaya sent a letter to state-owned shipbuilding company

PT PAL Surabaya on Wednesday guaranteeing that the vessel, whose movements have been closely monitored by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society over the past few months, would not engage in any “illegal activity.”

The Yushin Maru 2, a registered Japanese harpoon whaling ship, was thrust into the spotlight in January 2008 when two activists with the conservation society boarded the vessel without permission to deliver a letter protesting whaling activities in the Southern Ocean. The activists were detained on board the ship for two days.

Sumarto said the Japanese consulate told Indonesian authorities that the vessel was engaged in scientific research and that it would not engage in any illegal activities.

“We didn’t know the truth until we got information from local and international environmental groups about the activities of the Yushin Maru 2,” Sumarto said.

He said that the Western Australia government had also e-mailed him to confirm that the Japanese whaling vessel had been denied entry by Australian ports for refueling and repairs.

“The Australian government asked Indonesia to take similar moves,” Sumarto said.

Neither the Japanese Consulate General in Surabaya nor the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta could be reached for comment on Thursday.

Meanwhile, about a dozen people organized a demonstration outside the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday to demand that the whaling vessel immediately leave Indonesian waters.

Demonstrators carried posters declaring “No whale-killing vessel at Surabaya harbor!” and “Japan, go home!”

The protesters called on the public to boycott Japanese products if the ship was allowed to dock at the Surabaya port for repairs.

“We oppose the Japanese whaling fleet entering Indonesia,” said Pramudya Harzani of the Jakarta Animal Aid Network. “This vessel should be turned away.”

At least l2 countries and international environmental groups have condemned the Japanese whaling fleet, saying that its annual hunt is “illegal.”