WHALING DISPUTE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 277, 4 September 1946, Page 7

WHALING DISPUTE

JAPANESE SHIPS PREPARING (Official N.Z. Correspondent with J Force.) CI-lOFU, August 30.. While the Governments of Britain, Australia and New Zealand are considering a joint protest to Washington against the decision of General MaeArthur to allow* Japanese to resume vdialing operations in the Antarctic, ships of the fleet wdiich it is proposed to send south from Japanin the northern autumn’ are being prepared in ports of the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. Of five main ships which it is proposed to use for processing whale meat and carrying it back to Japan, one is in Nagasaki Harbour and four are in the crowded docks of Shimonseki. ,

Almost the entire resources of one of the main ship-building yards of Shimonoselci, in the extreme south of the New Zealand Brigade’s area is now devoted to* preparing the ships for the whaling fleet, and for the coastal fishing industry.

Alongside the four ships for the Antarctic is a small fleet, of trawlers built for the Japanese home fishing industry, which has been given permission to build 116 steel fishing ships. A little more than 18 months ago two of the vessels which are to become' refrigeration ships Avere oil-tankers on the Borneo-Japan run. Now hundreds of men are working day and night installing thousands upon thousands of feet of piping and other refrigeration gear under orders that the ships are to be ready to sail in November. Three of the ships are of about 1000 tons and the fourth is of slightly less than SOO tons. The 10,000 ton factory ship, Nishin Maru, at Nagasaki is named after the largest Japanese tanker sunk during the war. All five ships are OAvned by the biggest company in the Japanese fishing industry, the Dasu Taio Fishing Company. By an odd coincidence, the same yards which are preparing these ships for the disputed Antarctic Avhaling operations are also building the N.Z. Brigade Yacht Club’s first six yachts. The New Zealanders hope to have the yachts, launched before the end of this summer.