Ice threatens to trap stranded Japanese whaler

By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Ice threatened to trap a damaged Japanese whaling ship stranded off Antarctica, anti-whaling activists said on Monday, raising fears of an environmental disaster close to a major penguin colony.

The Nisshin Maru, an 8,000 ton Japan whaling fleet flagship, has been disabled since a fire last Thursday that killed a crewman, sparking concern oil or chemicals could spill into one of the world's last pristine seas.

The Japanese have rejected offers from environment watchdog Greenpeace to tow the stricken vessel to port in favor of attempting repairs, but activists monitoring fast-moving ice floes on behalf of the ship warned time was running out.

"There is a big finger of ice to the east of us, which is moving up and across, and there is a concern that if the wind changes and pushes that toward us, then we'll all get pinned in along the continent," Greenpeace spokeswoman Sarah Holden told Reuters by satellite phone from the area.

Greenpeace has become a temporary ally of the Japanese amid concerns more than 1,000 metric tons of oil on board the ship could be blown by heavy Antarctic seas onto the world's largest Adelie penguin breeding ground, 110 miles away.

Scout helicopters from the Greenpeace vessel Esperanza said ice packs were closing in by 3 miles a day, while the Nisshin Maru drifted 30 miles north overnight.

"The only thing we can predict is that the ice will continue to increase and expand, because we're coming to winter," Holden said.

Crew on the Nisshin Maru had re-started one generator on the ship to restore power and heating, but the engines were still dead and the ship lay lashed between two other whaling vessels, Maritime New Zealand spokesman Steve Corbett said.