The Japanese bulk and chemical carrier will use a suite of digital tools to track vessel performance and regulatory compliance Nisshin Shipping is deploying software across its fleet of bulk and chemical carriers to improve reporting emissions tracking and regulation compliance This suite of digital tools will provide real-time operational and compliance insights and enable the Japanese owner to lower fuel consumption and emissions Nisshin Shipping selected OrbitMI to provide software for fleet management and vessel reporting on 14 of its ships following a successful pilot project “We sought a solution to enhance fleet management by optimising reporting and compliance while reducing manual data entry,” said Nisshin Shipping director and executive officer OrbitMI consolidates key regulatory data in one interface and generate reports for various regulatory bodies inlcuding IMO’s carbon intensity index the European Union’s emissions trading system and FuelEU OrbitMI also provides real-time alerts on speed fuel consumption and a vessel’s estimated time of arrival Riviera’s Cyber & Vessel Security Webinar Week will be held from 12 May 2025 focusing on the latest developments in cyber and vessel security. Use this link for more information and sign up to the webinars The company made the announcement at a meeting to launch several products and premix sauce in Ho Chi Minh City on September 6 Nisshin Seifun Welna sells processed foods such as wheat flour holding a large market share in many categories Vietnam Nisshin Seifun was established as a pasta sauce production facility primarily exporting pasta sauce products to Japan Vietnam Nisshin Technomic was established as a production facility of premix sauces sold in the domestic Vietnamese market “We have developed products based on the preferences of customers in Vietnam making full use of the two production facilities in Vietnam and the technology and flavouring knowledge we have cultivated in Japan," a company official said "To meet the tastes of Vietnamese customers we will offer a different quality and line-up of products than those for the Japanese market and aim to become a food manufacturer that is loved by everyone in Vietnam.” With production technology not only at the production facilities in Vietnam but also at group’s facilities in Japan the company will enhance household products in Vietnam The company is the top manufacturer in the Japanese household-use pasta sauce market it launched a product line consisting of three products that suit the tastes of the Vietnamese people The portions of its products are for two people and the packaging is in convenient ready-to-eat pouches Focusing on the rice-eating culture of the Vietnamese and leveraging knowledge of ready-to-eat pouch products the company has developed a flavoured sauce that you can easily enjoy by simply adding it to rice Leveraging the knowledge gained from its premix flour business in Vietnam it will launch four unique premix flour products This product line is popular throughout the Vietnamese business-to-business market It also plans to launch two additional products-Banh Xeo Flour and Sponge Cake Mix-in the future operates the group’s companies: Vietnam Nisshin Seifun and Vietnam Nisshin Technomic Acecook recognised that the company’s high-quality food safety management foundation and extensive experience in instant noodle production in Japan is not enough – it is also necessary to create products with flavours suitable for local people With the business philosophy of pursuing a culinary path to contribute to Vietnamese society Acecook Vietnam is building a brand associated with corporate social responsibility and continuing its sustainable development efforts Through its efforts and action to promote sustainable development Acecook Vietnam has been named one of the most sustainable enterprises in the country Making great strikes thanks to the core value and the combination of Japanese technology and Vietnamese flavours Acecook Vietnam is making innovations and creating added values in the local market discussed with VIR’s Minh Anh the sustainable development journey ahead the leading instant noodle manufacturer in Vietnam is joining hands with the Food Safety Department under the Ministry of Health and women’s unions to organise seminars to raise awareness of food safety and proper nutrition for women ★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional Vietnam Investment Review under the Ministry of Finance Advertisement  | Contact us In its annual meeting held last week in Peru, the International Whaling Commission has reaffirmed the moratorium on commercial whaling, with a majority of members states rejecting a controversial proposal to end the four-decade-old ban. The efforts to lift the moratorium were led by pro-whaling countries in West and Central Africa, along with the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Instead, a resolution proposed by the European Union to strengthen the global moratorium was adopted. IWC started implementing the global prohibition on commercial whaling in 1986. The goal was to prevent the extinction of several great whale species, which at the time faced massive threats from rampant illegal and unreported whaling. Scientific reports estimate that 2.9 million whales were killed in commercial whaling operations during the 20th century. However, IWC did not pass a resolution to establish a South Atlantic whale sanctuary. This proposal has been considered at almost every IWC meeting since 1999, but has always been blocked by pro-whaling countries. Although 40 countries backed the proposal during last week’s session, it fell short of the required three-quarters majority for adoption. Fourteen nations voted against the proposal with three abstentions. The proposed South Atlantic whale sanctuary would extend from West Africa to the coasts of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. It aims to extend the existing whale sanctuary in the Southern Ocean, which prohibits commercial whaling in the region. © Copyright 2025 The Maritime Executive, LLC. All rights reserved. Khalid Hashim-led company also reveals sale of older bulker as it announces doubling of net profit in 2024 Bangkok-listed dry bulk player Precious Shipping has cancelled one of the six vessel acquisition deals it lined up last year. Managing director Khalid Hashim revealed on Tuesday that the planned purchase of the 39,000-dwt bulk carrier Western Miami (built 2015), which Precious agreed to buy from Japan’s Nisshin Shipping in July 2024 at $19.5m, Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Instagram Your data on TradeWinds TradeWinds is part of DN Media Group AS From November 1st DN Media Group is responsible for controlling your data on TradeWinds We use your data to ensure you have a secure and enjoyable user experience when visiting our site. You can read more about how we handle your information in our privacy policy DN Media Group is the leading news provider in the shipping, seafood, and energy industries, with a number of English- and Norwegian-language news publications across a variety of sectors. 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Tokyo You’ll want to give yourself ample time to browse this Super 2nd Street in Saitama, a colossal version of 2nd Street, which is another popular consignment and used clothing store found across Japan. While 2nd Streets in the city often have a narrow focus on clothing, shoes and accessories, Super 2nd Street offers a much more varied selection.  The Omiya Nisshin branch of Super 2nd Street still stocks a plentiful selection of fashion, shoes and accessories, but there’s also a wide range of tableware, used furniture, musical instruments, collectables and children’s toys. They’re good with designer goods, too: you can browse a great assortment of handbags and jewellery as well as many luxury watches.  Super 2nd Street Omiya Nisshin Store is about an 18-minute walk from Miyahara Station and can be reached in about an hour from central Tokyo.  facebooktwitterpinterestinstagramAbout us a worldwide leader in transporting bulk and chemical cargo to provide vessel reporting and compliance solutions throughout its operations fleet Nisshin Shipping first partnered with OrbitMI on a pilot program aboard a newly built vessel to assess its ability to enhance fleet operations the implementation has grown to include 14 vessels Director and Executive Officer at Nisshin Shipping stated that they selected OrbitMI due to its smooth integration into current workflows and its ability to offer real-time compliance insights “We were looking for a solution to improve fleet management by optimising reporting and compliance while reducing manual data entry OrbitMI simplifies compliance by consolidating key regulatory data into a single interface EU Allowances (EUAs) under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and fuel consumption enable proactive decision-making but it shouldn’t be a burden,” said Ali Riaz “By eliminating system silos and centralising emissions insights OrbitMI enables Nisshin Shipping to reduce administrative overhead and enhance overall operational efficiency This agreement marks the beginning of a long-term cooperative relationship between the two companies our vision has been to empower industry leaders with data-driven decision-making,” noted Riaz “Nisshin Shipping exemplifies this forward-thinking approach Their commitment to sustainability and operational excellence makes them an ideal partner as we continue shaping the future of maritime intelligence together.” Handysize sales fill up this week’s broking reports as buyers look to the segment as the smaller ships are still seen as the most stable investments in dry.  In this segment handysize specialist Precious Shipping is back in the news after snapping up a handysize vessel tabling $18.6m last month for the 2015-built Western Panama from Japanese owner Nisshin Shipping.  the Thai player is tipped to be the highest bidder for four more 39,000 dwt ships from the same owner. The ships were built at two different yards in China and are named Western Durban,Western Miami Brokers add a price tag of $78m to the deal.  The Nisshin clear-out comes just over a year since the company’s founder They should be bright yellow so they are visible in the ocea.. Don't have an account? will sell a limited quantity online of a plant-based food that re-creates the texture please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent Called “nazo unagi,” or literally mystery eel 5000 kabayaki grilled eel sets will go on sale from noon Thursday for ¥1,500 excluding tax To successfully replicate the soft and fluffy texture of real fatty kabayaki meat the batter made mainly from soy protein granules is divided into three layers: the white meat The layers of the batter are stuffed into a special mold to be steamed to look like real kabayaki A set comes with the sauce and sansho Japanese pepper Nisshin released 1,000 sets of nazo unagi online which sold out in a minute the company will sell a limited quantity at some stores in the Kanto region from July 20 Nisshin will also begin selling Monday “Nazo unagi don,” an instant cup rice of grilled eel from its “Cup Meshi” series where rice The new product containing nazo unagi sells for ¥369 in the Kanto Chubu and Kinki regions as well as in Yamanashi Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Official Social Media Accounts To Our Stakeholders Marubeni Management Philosophy Vision for the Marubeni of the Future Company Profile Directors, Audit & Supervisory Board Members, and Executive Officers Mid-Term Management Strategy Organization Japan and Overseas Offices Corporate Governance Major Group Companies Our History Marubeni Collection Lifestyle Division Food & Agri Business Division Metals and Mineral Resources Division Energy & Chemicals Division Power & Infrastructure Services Division Finance, Leasing & Real Estate Business Division Aerospace & Mobility Division IT Solutions Division Next Generation Business Development Division Next Generation Corporate Development Division Pursue Digital Transformation with Marubeni Marubeni Group by the Numbers Management Policy Earnings Releases & Financial Information Stock Information Sustainability Website The Marubeni Group's Social Contribution Activities Advertisements and Videos Advertisements Marubeni Institute Company Profile Print “Marubeni”) hereby announces the start of an aqua-feed manufacturing and sales business (hereinafter the “Business”) through Marubeni Nisshin Feed Co. a Marubeni subsidiary (60% owned by Marubeni) where the marine aquaculture market is growing Marubeni Nisshin Feed has been producing high-quality aqua-feed in Japan for more than 60 years and holds the largest share in domestic aqua-feed sales volume Marubeni Nisshin Feed has been researching and keeping a close eye on the marine aquaculture market in China since 2015 in anticipation of expanding their business into the large Chinese market Marubeni Nisshin feed has increased their own brand awareness and the reputation of their products in the Chinese market by manufacturing aqua-feed at factories owned by a partner company in China business feasibility has been confirmed and Marubeni Nisshin feed has established Marubeni Nisshin Feed Technology (Tianjin) Co. which is the first fully-owned Japanese aqua-feed manufacturer in China Commercial operation and supply are scheduled to begin in or after January 2021 the production scale of marine aquaculture in China has reached about 6.5 times (*) the production in Japan The Chinese marine aquaculture market is expected to expand further in the future partly due to growing health consciousness and the demand for aqua-feed is expected to increase accordingly Marubeni Nisshin Tianjin will develop and provide safe secure and high-quality products by utilizing the manufacturing knowledge and experience of aqua-feed built up by Marubeni Nisshin Feed over years of doing business in Japan Marubeni Nisshin Tianjin aims for annual sales of 2.5 billion yen in the future Marubeni will meet the growing demand of the Chinese market (*) Based on the China Fisheries Statistical Yearbook Back Sea Shepherd has opposed Japanese whaling operations in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with expeditions to Antarctic waters first in 2002 followed by continuous campaigns from 2005 until 2017 During this period over 6,000 whales were saved from the harpoons of Japanese commercial whalers posing as research whalers by Sea Shepherd interventions Japan has now finally declared that they will end whaling activities in the Southern Ocean the Japanese government began to invest millions of dollars in security efforts to prevent Sea Shepherd from engaging their fleets These security measures included military grade real time surveillance Although this prevented Sea Shepherd from returning to the Southern Ocean in 2018 it also placed Japan in a position of expending huge resources on continuous security the cost of preventing Sea Shepherd intervention became very expensive This and the verdict of the International Court of Justice that exposed Japanese research as fraudulent coupled with worldwide condemnation of their Southern Ocean activities has in the opinion of Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd led to this decision to declare they will openly undertake commercial whaling activities The scheme to pose as researchers will now be dropped and that means there can be absolutely no justification for hunting whales in an internationally established whale sanctuary This will be the last year of Japanese whaling activities in the Southern Ocean Sea Shepherd’s objective of ending the slaughter of whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary has been realized This is a victory for the campaign to make the Southern Ocean a whaling free zone If Japan decides to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) it will allow the IWC to pass the motion to establish the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary thus effectively ending whaling in the Southern Hemisphere Japan will now join Norway and Iceland as rogue outlaw whaling nations in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic The Whale Wars in the Southern Ocean will soon be over The focus now must be the Northern Hemisphere Sea Shepherd welcomes this announcement by Japan and views it as a positive development FOLLANSBEE — A local industrial leader and active community member has retired after working for more than 30 years in the Ohio Valley Members of the Follansbee Chamber of Commerce wanted to express their appreciation for the efforts of Noboru “Ricky” Onishi so they threw a retirement party for him at DeeJay’s BBQ Ribs and Grille in Weirton Joined by chamber members and the new management team at Wheeling-Nisshin Onishi reflected on his tenure at the steel firm and working relationship with local community leaders Onishi had worked for steel industries in the U.S including more than 12 years in sales and product management with C Itoh and Co he held various positions before becoming general manager of its commercial department in 1990 and played a key role in the development that year of Wheeling-Nisshin then a joint venture between the Japanese steel firm and Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel he oversaw the growth of the steel firm’s customer base and product line which includes five major hot dip coated products making it unique among steel convert facilities in the U.S Onishi said he is proud of the addition to the plant’s products of ZAM aluminum and magnesium alloy developed by Nisshin Steel that is resistant to corrosion and scratching because it is nearly three times harder than commonly used galvanized coatings He noted the product may be used in solar panels animal pens and anything exposed to weather and has been used locally in guardrails along Follansbee streets and in the new Brooke Middle School Wheeling-Nisshin has been a strong supporter of local schools sponsoring scholarships for Brooke High School graduates for years About 10 years ago the company expanded the effort to include the award of multiple scholarships each year “We feel education is most important for young people so we decided to raise the amount of the scholarships,”said Onishi Working with the Brooke County Schools Education Foundation the steel firm has awarded about $275,000 in scholarships to Brooke graduates to date Onishi said he is thankful to the leaders of West Virginia as well as Follansbee Mayors Anthony Paesano and David Velegol Jr and other leaders of the city and Brooke County “I think we’ve felt obligated to help Brooke County because of what they have done for us,” he said who lives in Pittsburgh with his wife of 40 years said he has enjoyed living and working in this region “The people are very friendly and there are a lot of things to do in the U.S.,” he said “The only thing we’re missing here is an ocean,” said Onishi including two daughters living in the Pittsburgh area Onishi occasionally has visited family in Japan and he plans to see them again now that he’s retired But he said he’s not ready to retire entirely and will take a little time off to consider his future work plans (Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.) Today's breaking news and more in your inbox CHANGES: The Cedar One Group has announced a series of staffing changes in its efforts to serve the needs of area .. WHEELING — Seven attorneys at Bordas & Bordas have been selected to the 2025 West Virginia Super Lawyers .. WHEELING — Some of the top welding students from around the Ohio Valley were able to test their skills and .. Copyright © 2025 Ogden News Publishing of Ohio | https://www.weirtondailytimes.com | 114 Lee Ave. A new $47m vessel is preparing for its maiden voyage in coastal waters but there are fears the Kangei Maru could one day mean a return to hunting in the Southern Ocean chefs in the open kitchen produce another plate of cetacean delicacies – raw sashimi marbled with fat roast minke whale cut into bite-size pieces and served with a selection of dipping sauces The new vessel’s range of 13,000km is fuelling suspicion that, five years after Japan abandoned its controversial “scientific” hunts in the Southern Ocean and resumed commercial whaling along its own coastline Japan is again preparing to slaughter the mammals far from its own shores the whaling industry envisions an age of prosperity and rising demand ultimately guaranteeing the future of the most controversial ingredient in Japan’s culinary repertoire equipped with a slipway that can haul 70-ton fin whales can store up to 600 tons of meat at a time enabling it to remain at sea for long periods A whale meat dish served at a restaurant in the Japanese city of Shimonoseki Photograph: Justin McCurry/The GuardianLast year 187 Bryde’s and 25 sei whales in Japan’s exclusive economic zone but the appetite for the delicacy is at historic lows Between 1,000 and 2,000 tons of whale meat are consumed in Japan a year – less than 1% of the 230,000 tons eaten at the industry’s peak in 1962 Read more“The relationship between Shimonoseki and whaling is far from broken because if future generations don’t eat whale meat the industry will die.” The International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial hunts in 1986 but allowed Japan to continue catching a small number of whales in the Antarctic each year for “research” purposes Japan has “not given up” on the resumption of whale hunting in the Antarctic director of the environmental and animal protection group Life Investigation Agency The Kangei Maru the Japanese whaling industry’s new $47m mother ship Photograph: Justin McCurry/The Guardian“That is why they built the Kangei Maru which is equipped to go whaling in the Antarctic Ocean,” Yabuki said “I believe it’s possible that whales may be killed again there despite what the international community thinks “We left the IWC and so at this point in time it is not under consideration,” said spokesperson Konomu Kubo “The government has not indicated that Southern Ocean whaling is in its plans and our mission is to use the new ship to conduct commercial coastal whaling for at least the next 30 years.” director of the whale industry promotion office at the Shimonoseki municipal government said the launch of the Kangei Maru was “a dream come true” “When Japan started commercial whaling again and it was a big thing for the city,” he said “It also meant that people could start eating refrigerated meat caught off the coast rather than frozen meat from the Southern Ocean And we’ve been able to be more ambitious about promoting whale meat.” and says it plans to open more at about 100 sites At the city’s Karato morning market, groups of tourists from China, South Korea and Taiwan make a beeline for counters selling freshly made sushi but show little interest in the whale meat – a vital source of protein in Japan after the second world war. Koji Yoshida, a Karato seafood seller, said whale meat consumption was “a generational thing”, admitting he struggled to sell his stock to people under a certain age. “But if the Kangei Maru can bring back good whale meat – not the tough, cheapest parts we used to serve in schools – then we can show children how good it really is.” Giant of Japanese shipping liked to keep a low profile The Japanese maritime community is mourning the loss of respected shipping veteran Yayoi Fujii, also known as Y Fujii, who died yesterday, aged 91. In an email to TradeWinds, Shinsuke Fujii, son of Y Fujii, said the death of the company’s founder came unexpectedly. “Until the day before his death, he was in the office as usual,” the younger Fujii said. In the 48 hours following Sea Shepherd’s discovery of a Japanese whaling vessel poaching in the Australian Whale Sanctuary images of the harpooned minke whale on its deck have gone viral as well as criticism from the Australian government Photographs and video footage taken from the helicopter of Sea Shepherd’s MV Steve Irwin show the crew of the Nisshin Maru factory ship hastily concealing the slaughtered whale with a tarp while the crew of the nearby Yushin Maru scrambled to cover their harpoon guns “Once again Sea Shepherd caught the Japanese whale poachers with blood on their hands,” said Sea Shepherd Global Director The images immediately went viral on Twitter and Facebook reaching over 4.5 million views by Tuesday morning and has been picked up by all major international press outlets in the US Forced to address the issue just days after hosting Japan’s Prime Minister the Australian Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg condemned the whalers in a statement on Monday: “The Australian government is deeply disappointed that Japan has decided to return to the Southern Ocean this summer to undertake so-called 'scientific' whaling It is not necessary to kill whales in order to study them,” he added "New Zealand will be expressing its significant disappointment about what is going on there,” echoed New Zealand’s Prime Minister promising to support Australia’s fight to stop Japanese whaling through the “appropriate channels.” simply being 'disappointed' does not cut it when the majority of Australians want action to stop the Japanese whale-killing fleet,” said Sea Shepherd Australia Director Jeff Hansen in response to the politicians’ comments While keeping the Japanese poachers on the run M/Y Steve Irwin Captain Wyanda Lublink radioed the Yushin Maru #2 harpoon ship: “We have caught you whaling illegally in a protected whale sanctuary in Australian waters You are in contempt of the Australian Federal Court and the International Court of Justice and we demand you stop your operations.” Receiving no reply she further informed the poaching vessel that Sea Shepherd had video footage of them with the whale “We will take this evidence back to Australia so there can be an investigation.” Captain Adam Meyerson of Sea Shepherd’s Ocean Warrior patrol vessel noted the word “RESEARCH” usually painted on the side of the Nisshin Maru is missing this year: “They seem to have abandoned the pretext of the 'scientific research' charade.”  Although Monday’s dense fog and rough conditions prevented Sea Shepherd’s helicopter from keeping an eye on the Japanese fleet the low visibility also makes it impossible for the whalers to continue poaching until the weather clears Captain Cornelissen promises Sea Shepherd will be ready for them when it does Sea Shepherd will continue to hunt down this criminal operation until justice is served.” Anti-whaling activists are pleased that Japan's last whaling mothership operator is ordering a replacement vessel - not because they expect it to succeed but because they believe that the cost and debt load from the order will put the firm out of business.  Whale hunting in Japan is an unprofitable industry and its range - which once reached as far as Antarctica - has been limited to Japanese home waters since the nation withdrew from the International Whaling Commission in 2018 The industry is now formally classified as a commercial fishery and it is sustained by government payments of about $2 in subsidy for every $1 in sales to the public and it accounts for about one tenth of one percent of the nation's meat consumption despite years of industy-backed promotional efforts.  About half a dozen inshore whaling boats and one whaling mothership pursue Japan's national quota for minke The quota is currently set at about 1,500 tonnes per year and is based on the latest science for responsible management according to Japan's Fisheries Agency.  acknowledges that this volume is not enough to support a profitable industry without subsidies the company plans to invest $55 million - sourced from loans crowdfunding and non-whaling charter missions - to buy a newbuild replacement for its aging mothership The Nisshin Maru is the last factory whaling ship in the world, and she has a storied history of confrontations with anti-whaling activists. She collided with the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise in 1999 and again in 2006, and she was allegedly in collision with the Sea Shepherd vessels Steve Irwin Bob Barker and Sam Simon multiple times during her 2013 Antarctic campaign (along with her own refueling tanker Nisshin Maru is nearing the end of her service life and Kyodo Senpaku wants to replace her with a new Antarctic-capable vessel and its annual subsidies from the Japanese government have recently been replaced by a $9 million per year loan package. Nisshin Maru costs about $6-7 million per year to maintain and the $55 million price of a newbuild - more than twice the annual sales turnover of the entire Japanese whaling industry - may pose a commercial obstacle if the quota and catch area are not increased.  "The number of people who eat whale meat in Japan is decreasing year on year so it is no longer a viable business," anti-whaling activist Ren Yabuki of the NGO Life Investigation Agency told SCMP "The government should not support the whaling industry with money from taxes because this is a business conducted by private companies who should survive on their own budgets just like any other Japanese company." But there is a non-commercial reason to keep a small whaling fleet argues Kyodo Senpaku spokesman Konomu Kubo: whaling could maintain Japan's food security in times of scarcity Japan's industrial-scale whaling operations began as an emergency effort after WWII Douglas MacArthur proposed to use whale meat to fill a food shortage in occupied Japan and whales provided low-cost protein to keep the nation fed in the post-war period In the event of a similar food shortage in the future Japan could once again turn to whales for sustenance if it maintains a small high-seas whaling fleet.  Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report Yamaguchi Prefecture--The aging Nisshin Maru has finally retired after playing a central role in research and commercial operations for more than 30 years It will be replaced by a modern vessel next year but lackluster demand for whale meat suggests the industry that drew condemnation from around the world faces an uncertain future A large crowd that included the families of the crew members gathered at the wharf where they waved their hands in welcome and cheered loudly as the ship returned to its home port here for the final time on Nov “(The Nisshin Maru) encountered many troubles due to its age but it held up well until the end,” said its captain the factory ship first led a whaling expedition that lasted from 1991 to 1992 It was called a “moving processing factory” because the whales caught by catcher boats could be butchered on board and the meat frozen for preservation have been flensed and cut up in the Antarctic Sea the Northwest Pacific Ocean and waters around Japan Up until the 1970s when mainly European nations began to view whales as a “protected” species bones and meat were widely considered an abundant “resource.” the International Whaling Commission decided to slap a temporary ban on commercial whaling in 1982 Japan embarked on a “research whaling” program in the Antarctic Sea in 1987 and in the Northwest Pacific Ocean in 1994 to gather data on the rise in whale stocks The meat from the whales caught was later sold for food Australia and other countries blasted the research whaling as “illegal commercial whaling.” The Nisshin Maru was frequently targeted for sabotage by the Sea Shepherd and other anti-whaling groups recalled an encounter with the Sea Shepherd when he went out on deck and found discolored butyric acid sticking to the hull who now lectures at the National Fisheries University “I was catching whales to bring delicious whale meat to tables the International Court of Justice ordered the suspension of Japan’s research whaling after taking issue with Tokyo’s claim it was killing whales for scientific purposes Japan withdrew from the IWC in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling in its exclusive economic zone the whaling industry has remained stagnant the whaling company that owns the Nisshin Maru four organizations are engaged in commercial whaling Hokkaido; Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture; Minami-Boso in Chiba Prefecture; and Taiji in Wakayama Prefecture They are all struggling to survive in an increasingly tough business environment The Fisheries Agency permits the hunting of three large whale species: minke and the catches last year were half the maximum limit the Fisheries Agency plans to add one species to the list of whale species that can be caught if its ocean stocks are deemed to be plentiful Fin whales are considered the most likely candidate but an official decision will be made at the agency’s deliberative council has improved freezing and storage technology as well as sanitation features such as being able to process whale carcasses indoors “No other whaling ship in the world is as large and state-of-the-art as this one,” said Hideki Tokoro “It will be able to supply whale meat for 30 years.” The company has already started to bolster demand for whale meat with the opening of five Kujira (whale) Store outlets this year that feature whale meat vending machines in and around Tokyo and Osaka Construction of the Kangei Maru will cost 7.5 billion yen ($50 million) which reported a net profit of 150 million yen on sales of 3.16 billion yen in fiscal 2022 (This article was written by Masayuki Shiraishi and Hironori Kato.) Japanese whaler hopes to beat the odds with new mother ship EDITORIAL: Japan’s whalers should reduce dependence on state subsidies Raw whale meat sells for a record price in auction in Shimonoseki Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages Copyright © The Asahi Shimbun Company. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Japanese whaling industry has gained more capacity with the launch of Kangei Maru, a new whaling mother ship that can process tons of whale meat at sea. The vessel is now the world’s only whaling fleet mother ship, owned by Tokyo-based seafood company Kyodo Senpaku. The ship is replacing Nisshin Maru, which Kyodo Senpaku retired in November after decades of whaling operations. The vessel became infamous for its whale hunting expeditions in the Antarctic Ocean, which led to frequent clashes with environmental groups. Japanese government maintains that it only allows commercial whaling within the territorial sea and its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The launch of the new mothership coincides with Kyodo Senpaku’s campaign to boost whale consumption in Japan. Early this year, the company opened two whale meat stores in Tokyo, a move aimed at reviving the shrinking market for whale-related foods. Whale meat was once a staple source of protein in Japanese culture, but consumption began to decline with increased imports of pork, chicken and beef. As of 2021, only 1,000 tons of whale meat was consumed in Japan from a high of over 200,000 tons in 1962, according to data by Japan’s ministry of fisheries and agriculture. Meanwhile, the ocean conservation group Captain Paul Watson Foundation has announced that it is acquiring a new vessel, the Bandero, aimed at combating illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean. The organization said that it is responding to the launch of Kangei Maru, and asserted that the new Japanese ship was designed with ability to reach Antarctica. “If Japan cancels their plans to return to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, our foundation will target the destructive Krill fishery in the Southern Ocean,” said Omar Todd, CEO of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation. Japan ended its Antarctica whaling program in 2018 following an order from the international court of justice. In the same year, Japan also withdrew its membership from the International Whaling Commission, the global body that regulates whaling.   TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese whaling ship returned home to the country’s southwest Friday after almost meeting its annual quota, ending its first commercial whaling season in 31 years. Operator Kyodo Senpaku Co. said its main factory ship Nisshin Maru returned to its home port of Shimonoseki, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s home constituency, after catching 223 whales during its three-month expedition off the Japanese coast. Nisshin Maru’s two support ships, Yushin Maru and No. 3 Yushin Maru, also returned to their home ports. Japan resumed commercial whaling on July 1 after leaving the International Whaling Commission, promising that the whalers would stay within the country’s exclusive economic waters. Japan had conducted research hunts for 31 years in the Antarctic and the Northwest Pacific that conservationists criticized as a cover for commercial hunts banned by the IWC. Kyodo Senpaku President Eiji Mori praised the whalers for returning with “better than expected” results despite earlier uncertainty because of their lack of experience in the area. “We were worried if we could catch any, but they did a great job,” Mori said. “We will examine the results closely and make a plan for the next season.” Of the quota of 232 whales allocated to the main fleet, they caught 187 Bryde’s, 25 sei and 11 minke whales, only nine minke whales short of the cap. The fleet brought back an estimated 1,430 tons of frozen whale meat from the catch, down 670 tons from last year’s Antarctic hunts. Separately, whalers operating smaller scale hunts in waters just off Japan’s northeastern coasts already filled their seasonal quota of 33 minke whales, fisheries officials said. Days after the resumption, their fleet of five small boats returned with two minke whales, whose fresh meat fetched as much as 15,000 yen ($140) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) at a local fish market auction celebrating the first commercial hunt in three decades. “It’s wonderful that we had a good start,” said Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Taku Eto, a member of Abe’s ruling party, which has pushed for commercial whaling. “We will continue our support so that commercial whaling gets on track.” His ministry is requesting a 5.1 billion yen ($48 million) budget for fiscal 2020 to support commercial whaling. While opponents condemn Japan’s commercial whaling, others question if the embattled whaling program can survive changing times and tastes. Whale meat was an affordable source of protein during the lean times after World War II, with annual consumption peaking at 223,000 tons in 1962, but whale was quickly replaced by other meats. Today, annual consumption is down to 4,000-5,000 tons, according to the Fisheries Agency. Eto says he still has hope. “I recently had fried whale for the first time in years, and it was outstandingly delicious. … I’m sure consumers will appreciate the taste once they try it.” Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser! Bergen’s Hansa Tankers has taken delivery of the world’s first dual-fuel low pressure chemical carrier from Japanese pool member Nisshin The first of Nisshin Shipping’s eight dual-fuel chemical carrier newbuildings has been placed with Bergen’s Hansa pool. Hans Solberg, chief executive officer of Hansa Tankers Management, said Nisshin’s 19,900-dwt Eva Gold (built 2022) is in the water and running on gas. “The engines are already properly equipped to run on both fuel oil and LNG, not just ‘LNG ready’,” Solberg told TradeWinds. The race to buy Australia-based consumer bakery and ingredients business Allied Pinnacle has reached its conclusion Japanese flour-to-spaghetti maker Nisshin Seifun has snapped up Australia-based bakery business Allied Pinnacle from private-equity firm Pacific Equity Partners Financial details were not officially disclosed but news agency Reuters reported Nisshin Seifun is to pay AUD574m (US$409.8m) for Allied Pinnacle which supplies bakery ingredients to food manufacturers as well as finished bakery products to retailers and foodservice operators Allied Pinnacle’s consumer brands including The Good Going Bakery which sells products at retailers including Australia’s Woolworths Ltd The Australian Financial Review reported Nisshin Seifun was one of two bidders for Allied Pinnacle with an offer from China’s Kemen Noodle Manufacturing Co The deal is Nisshin Seifun’s latest move to expand internationally with the company looking to boost its presence in baking and milling markets Nisshin Seifun has made other acquisitions in New Zealand and Thailand Allied Pinnacle CEO James Ajaka said: “Nisshin’s global footprint and track-record of continually investing in driving innovation perfectly matches our strategy of delivering our unique technologies and products to markets around the world Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis Pacific Equity Partners created Allied Pinnacle last year when it acquired Australian bakery products and flour manufacturer Allied Mills from GrainCorp and Cargill combining that asset with its existing Pinnacle Bakery & Integrated Ingredients business Allied Pinnacle generates around AUD750m in sales a year It employs Allied Pinnacle around 1,300 staff in distribution and its head office in Rhodes in New South Wales.  Nominations are now open for the prestigious Just Food Excellence Awards - one of the industry's most recognised programmes celebrating innovation This is your chance to showcase your achievements Don't miss the opportunity to be honoured among the best - submit your nomination today Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network The captain of the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru lost his temper and unfortunately road rage with an 8,000 ton ship in remote waters amongst icebergs and ice packs can be somewhat intimidating I don’t think we have ever had a more eventful few hours in the nine years we have been opposing the whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and certainly there has never been a day when all of our ships were rammed one after another It is also the first time we have ever been rammed by the Nissin Maru the Japanese factory ship four times rammed and damaged their own supply tanker I am sure the Japanese will justify the ramming of four ships on the high seas as accidental after all nothing down here in the Southern Whale Sanctuary ever seems to be their fault It began when the Sun Laurel deliberately ventured south of Sixty Degrees entering the Antarctic Treaty Zone with a cargo of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) for the Nisshin Maru It is illegal to bring HFOs into the protected waters of Antarctica and also illegal to transfer heavy fuel oil to another ship The refueling operation was planned to happen yesterday but the three Sea Shepherd ships had taken up positions around the Sun Laurel to block any approach by the Nisshin Maru the Nisshin Maru and the Panamanian-registered tanker Sun Laurel ventured into a thick ice pack in an attempt to shake off the Sea Shepherd ships The Sun Laurel is not an ice class vessel and has no business taking such a dangerous cargo into an ice pack The Sea Shepherd ships held their position making it difficult for the Nisshin Maru to come alongside their tanker The Sun Laurel was advised that they could refuel the Nisshin Maru north of Sixty degrees South that the factory ship be refueled illegally some 360 miles south of Sixty Degrees At 1020 Hours the Nisshin Maru moved closer to the stern of the Sun Laurel as the three Japanese harpoon vessels began to circle with their water cannons shooting towards the Sea Shepherd ships They were joined by a fourth Japanese vessel the same ship that had rammed and destroyed the New Zealand-flagged Ady Gil in 2010 with three harpoon vessels closing in on the port quarter of the Steve Irwin with the Sun Laurel pushing through thick ice the Nisshin Maru shortened the distance between their bow and the stern of the Steve Irwin The Nisshin Maru kept edging closer in an effort to intimidate the Sea Shepherd Ships and it was indeed intimidating The Nisshin Maru towered above our ships at ten times the size the Bosun on the tanker Sun Laurel warned the Nisshin Maru to stop because they were dangerously close but the factory ship continued to move closer pinching the Steve Irwin between their massive hull and the side of the tanker The Bob Barker then moved into position to defend the Steve Irwin and attempted to block the Japanese poaching ship crew on the Nisshin Maru were throwing concussion grenades and hitting both the Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin with powerful water cannons the Nisshin Maru came up behind the Steve Irwin damaging the helicopter deck and pushing the Steve Irwin towards the Sun Laurel The Bob Barker moved into the breach to allow the Steve Irwin to get out of the way of the Nisshin Maru’s massive bow The Bob Barker then came under attack from concussion grenades and high-powered water cannons causing a huge cloud of steam to engulf half the ship and drift over to the Nisshin Maru who then directed their water cannons to flood the exhaust ports of the main engine Co-Campaign Leader Bob Brown had ordered that the Sea Shepherd crew not retaliate with stink bombs The crew complied with those instructions and thus could take no measures to dissuade the attack of the Nisshin Maru They could only to hold their ground to the best of their ability The Nisshin Maru moved to cut off the Bob Barker and instead struck the stern of the tanker Sun Laurel crushing a liferaft and damaging the davit in for their primary lifeboat They also inflicted damage on the Sun Laurel’s superstructure and hull “This kind of reckless maneuvering around a fully laden tanker is unthinkable,” said Bob Barker 1st Officer Carlos Bueno “The Nisshin Maru captain was so intent on hitting the Bob Barker that he was willing to damage the tanker and risk an oil spill to get to us The Nisshn Maru opened the gap between the Sun Laurel and the Bob Barker and slammed into the starboard side of the Sea Shepherd Ship while still scraping the port side of the tanker Sun Laurel The massive bow of the Nisshin Maru towered over the decks of the Bob Barker From my vantage point on the other side of the Sun Laurel I could see the Bob Barker heeling hard over to port at forty five degrees as the imposing black bow of the Nisshin Maru toppled the aft mast destroying the radar and crushing the running lights The monkey deck was buckled and the helicopter deck twisted as the Bob Barker’s engineers reported water pouring into the engine room could hear the metal ripping on the deck above the wheel-house as the aft mast was toppled and the ship began to heel over the Nisshin Maru was pushing and we were helpless,” said Captain Hammarstedt “I tried to keep my footing and I was able to issue a May Day his massive weight would certainly have capsized us But she broke off and the huge anchor swung against us like a wrecking ball.” “It was a frightening experience,” added Oona Layolle of France “Another foot lower and the anchor would have torn into the wheelhouse Instead it ripped through the starboard running lights crushing the glass and steel The monkey deck looked like a bomb had hit it.” The Nisshin Maru backed off when they heard the distress call and the Bob Barker immediately began damage control The flow of water was halted within 15 minutes and the engineers brought power back on within a half hour giving the ship the ability to get underway The radar and starboard running lights were destroyed “It was unbelievable,” said Steve Irwin Bosun’s Mate “The Nisshin Maru rolled over the Bob Barker like a tank crushing a car after they rammed their own tanker This has been the most irresponsible seamanship that I have ever seen They are being aggressively reckless and they are acting like there will be no consequences for their actions.” And there probably will not be any consequences the Shonan Maru #2 deliberately rammed and destroyed the New Zealand-flagged trimaran Ady Gil They then refused to cooperate with New Zealand investigators and were not penalized The Nissin Maru had earlier attempted to intimidate the Australian-flagged ship Sam Simon They struck the ship on the stern and through their loudspeakers had the audacity to order the Australian ship away from Australian Territorial waters “by order of the Government of Japan.” “It is as if they are declaring sovereignty over our territorial waters,” said Steve Irwin Quartermaster Elissa Sursara one of the Filipino seaman on the Sun Laurel tossed a bottle to one of the Sea Shepherd crew in an inflatable small boat Please: ‘May Day’ ‘Help’ All crew did not know to this Antarctic trip So all crew don’t like to supply this fishing vessels We cannot use telephone so we cannot speak to IMO Please you as soon as possible take action They also included a note with a directive from their Captain saying that they could not telephone from their ship from January 20 to February 28th who did not know they were going to Antarctica and wanted no part of the Japanese Whaling Fleet Some of the crew on the Bob Barker tossed 6 Sea Shepherd crew T-shirts to the Sun Laurel crew and cheered when the Filipino crew put them on and gave the Bob Barker thumbs up All three Sea Shepherd ships had held their positions and the illegal refueling of the Nisshin Maru was prevented The evening came to a close as the Sun Laurel headed north away from the Nisshin Maru with the Sea Shepherd ship Sam Simon escorting them to safety The Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin continue to tail the Nisshin Maru as it heads west All the harpoon vessels and the government security vessel Shonan Maru #2 have scattered and the entire whaling fleet looks to be in complete disarray By all appearances the Sun Laurel is acting like they have had enough and may be heading home The best news of all came with the announcement that the Institute for Cetacean Research has called a temporary halt to all whaling operations and hopefully we will not have to return next season if the Japanese whalers decide to finally respect the integrity and the sanctity of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update and updates delivered daily straight to your inbox Swiss marine power company WinGD will record the first installation of its new X-S short-stroke engine design following successful factory acceptance tests with engine builder Dalian Marine Diesel in March... March 7 (Reuters) – China has stepped up grey-zone warfare against Taiwan aiming to make the areas around the democratic island “saturated” with balloons Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news Stay informed with the latest maritime and offshore news For general inquiries and to contact us,please email: [email protected] To submit a story idea or contact our editors, please email: [email protected] For advertising opportunities contactEmail: [email protected]Phone: +1.805.704.2536 Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe Japanese shipowner Nisshin Shipping has reportedly ordered six Ultramax dry bulkers at Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering The order includes options for three more 63,500 dwt newbuildings The value of the deal has not been disclosed the firm ships from the order are said to be scheduled for delivery in 2020 The Chinese shipbuilder is already building ten Ultramaxes for Nisshin with four newbuildings scheduled for completion next year and six more following suit in 2020 The latest bulker newbuildings are being added to the company’s 40-strong bulker newbuilding tally spread across South Korean Daily news and in-depth stories in your inbox Ingersoll Rand Engineering Project Solutions At Ingersoll Rand’s Engineering Project Solutions we have been managing and implementing engineered to-order air packages for complex technical requirements for over 60 years We provide specialized custom compressed air and gas compressors as well as nitrogen generation packages to international EPC contractors and engineering companies across a range of […] Japanese owner Nisshin Shipping has returned to Chinese yard Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering for the construction of two 63,500 dwt ultramax bulkers The latest order adds to Nisshin’s existing large orderbook of 28 vessels at Nantong Xiangyu Delivery of the latest two vessels is scheduled in June 2021 Financial details of the contract were not disclosed Nisshin Shipping currently owns a fleet of 73 vessels made up of 49 bulkers and 24 tankers while the company is in the middle of a massive fleet expansion programme with a total of 42 newbuildings on orders at Japanese and Chinese yards and the Japanese tanker Sun Laurel in the Antarctic taken and released by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) February 20 Credit REUTERS/The Institute of Cetacean Research/Handout MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Anti-whaling activists called on Wednesday for Australia to send a naval vessel to the Southern Ocean after a confrontation in which they said a Japanese whaling ship collided with two of their protest vessels “The Nisshin Maru has rammed the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker but both vessels continue to hold their positions,” Paul Watson the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society which runs the protest boats Watson also accused Japanese coastguard personnel of throwing concussion grenades at their protest ships during a confrontation in the frigid waters near Antarctica and said the Bob Barker was taking on water in its engine room Australia said it was confirming the report of the incident Neither the Japanese government nor its whaling authority immediately responded to the Sea Shepherd’s account of the clash The Sea Shepherd group has clashed with the Japanese fleet for nine whaling seasons in the southern hemisphere summer the high-speed trimaran Ady Gil which sank after a collision with a whaler in January 2010 the activists had been attempting to prevent an 8,000-tonne Japanese factory ship refuelling from a tanker when the collision occurred Sea Shepherd director Bob Brown told journalists in the Australian city of Melbourne a former Australian Greens party leader before quitting politics said the two Sea Shepherd ships had been repeatedly rammed and called on Australia’s government to despatch a naval ship to the area to calm the tension “It is illegal to be ramming ships in any seas anywhere on the planet It is illegal for a tanker to be carrying heavy fuel oil into Antarctic waters under international law,” Brown said Australia sent an armed customs patrol ship to the Southern Ocean in 2008 to gather evidence of Japanese whaling methods for a legal challenge Australia has filed a complaint against Japan at the world court in the Hague to stop Southern Ocean scientific whaling “The government condemns so-called ‘scientific’ whaling in all waters and we urge everyone in the ocean to observe safety at sea,” Australia’s Environment Minister Tony Burke said in a statement Japan introduced scientific whaling to skirt a commercial whaling ban under a 1986 moratorium It argues it has a right to monitor the whales’ impact on its fishing industry appeals court in December issued an injunction ordering Sea Shepherd and Paul Watson not to physically attack or endanger the five-ship Japanese whaling fleet (Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Robert Birsel) (c) 2013 Thomson Reuters, Click For Restrictions The Estonian navy detained and boarded a Russia-bound oil tanker on an EU sanctions list on Friday accusing it of sailing illegally without a valid country flag has sunk off the Egyptian resort town of Hurghada with 45 people on board The incident occurred around 1,000 meters offshore during an hour-long.. Only one tank filled with jet fuel was damaged after the U.S military-contracted tanker that was transporting a shipment was struck by a cargo ship off England's northeast coast For general inquiries and to contact us,please email: [email protected] To submit a story idea or contact our editors, please email: [email protected] For advertising opportunities contactEmail: [email protected]Phone: +1.805.704.2536. Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe. A dead minke whale was spotted on board the ship, Sea Shepherd said. (Supplied: Sea Shepherd) Link copiedShareShare articleSea Shepherd says it has caught Japanese whalers in Australian waters with a slaughtered whale on board. The group has released pictures showing a dead protected minke whale on board the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru, allegedly in Australian waters. A Sea Shepherd helicopter spotted the vessel on Sunday morning with two harpoon ships nearby. "They're hit with an explosive harpoon that goes straight into their body, hooks come out and shrapnel is sent through their body, it's a terrible bloody death… these whales can take up to 30 or 40 minutes to die," Jeff Hansen from Sea Shepherd said. Sea Shepherd claims the Nisshin Maru was in Australian waters. (Supplied: Sea Shepherd) The group says the Japanese crew quickly covered the whale with a tarpaulin. "A soon as the whaling fleet saw that Sea Shepherd on the scene, they were scrambling to cover up their illegal operations, they were covering up their harpoons," Mr Hansen said. "This is all happening deep in Australia's whale sanctuary off the Antarctic coast. Sea Shepherd's Jeff Hansen said the images and video have been handed to the Australian Government. (ABC News: Courtney Bembridge) "It shows that even with the Japan Prime Minister on Australian soil, Japan is going about their bloody business ignoring the Australian Federal Court ruling, ignoring the wishes of the International Court of Justice." Sea Shepherd said it had handed its vision to the Federal Government and urged it to take immediate action. "Once again there's blood in the water, in Australian waters, and there's a blind eye in Canberra," Mr Hansen said. Topic:Food and Beverage Processing Industry CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) which will be taken out of operation in November due to aging arrived at Sendai Port in Sendai on Sunday A ceremony was held to commemorate the Nisshin Maru’s last days and the ship’s interior was opened to the press after the event A whaling mother ship is responsible for loading whales caught by small vessels disassembling them and freezing the whale meat Serving as the core of Japan’s whaling research the vessel has made 27 voyages to the Antarctic Ocean and be retired at Shimonoseki Port in Shimonoseki Tokyo-based whaling company Kyodo Senpaku Co. Construction is scheduled to be completed in March next year where whale carcasses are processed and stored The blaze left the ship unable to sail under its own power for 10 days raising fears of a major oil or chemical spill perilously close to the world's biggest Adelie penguin colony Officials in Tokyo conceded that the premature end to the hunt was a blow to its so-called research activities in the Southern Ocean "This is the first time in 20 years that we have had to cancel our research," Takahide Naruko of the fisheries agency told reporters had planned to slaughter 860 mainly minke whales before returning to Japan in mid-April; the fisheries agency said it had caught 505 minke whales and three fin whales The International Whaling Commission passed a ban on commercial whaling in 1986, but Japan uses a clause in the moratorium that allows it to hunt a number of whales for "scientific research". The meat from the slaughtered whales is sold to restaurants and supermarkets and the profits used to fund future hunts. Anti-whaling campaigners who have been tracking the fleet acknowledged the hunt had ended in tragic circumstances and expressed sympathy for the dead crewman and his family. "We now need to ensure that the whaling fleet never comes back," Greenpeace activist Sara Holden told the Guardian from aboard the group's vessel, the Esperanza. "Not just for the sake of the whales, but also because of the potential threat to the environment of the Antarctic and for the sake of the crew's safety. It's time for the Japanese government to hang up its harpoons." The cause of the fire remains a mystery but Mr Naruko said he hoped the 8,000-tonne Nisshin Maru would be ready to take part in a hunt for another 350 whales in the northwest Pacific in May. This year's Antarctic hunt quickly turned into a battle of wills between the whalers and activists from the Sea Shepherd conservation group. The Institute of Cetacean Research, a government-affiliated body that funds the hunts, accused Sea Shepherd of carrying out acts of "spiteful and mindless terrorism" such as ramming the fleet's vessels, tossing chemical-filled containers and smoke canisters onto their decks and attempting to entangle their engines with ropes and nets. Mr Naruko said he did not think there was a link between Sea Shepherd's actions and the fire, but added: "On the other hand, we can't say for certain that there was none." Japan denied claims by Greenpeace and the New Zealand government that the Nisshin Maru, carrying 1.3m litres of fuel oil, had threatened to cause an environmental disaster along the pristine Antarctic coastline while the crew frantically tried to repair its engine. But Ms Holden said: "The Japanese government was not sitting where I have been sitting for the past two weeks." At one point, she said, pack ice had drifted to within two miles of the stricken ship. "If they had become trapped in ice there's nothing they could have done about it. To say that there was never a threat to the environment is disingenuous at best." The Esperanza will continue to track the six-vessel fleet in case it encounters further trouble or attempts to resume its whaling activities. Nisshin Shipping boss Y Fujii, one of the industry’s most low-key figures, does business in a most un-Japanese way. TW+ turns the spotlight on a publicity-shy tonnage supplier that is quietly building up a 116-ship fleet Nisshin Shipping is celebrating a half-century in business with a 61-ship newbuilding investment that will more than double its fleet. The ordering spree has turned Nisshin into Japan’s fastest-growing shipowner, and its 116 vessels will make it the country’s third-largest independent tonnage supplier behind Shoei Kisen and Nissen Shipping. The growth has been orchestrated under the leadership of president and founder Y Fujii, now in his 80s, who has his own way of doing business. Officials say they need a faster ship to evade anti-whaling activists Japan is to defy Australia and other nations with plans to replace its whaling fleet’s ageing mother ship showing its determination to continue its annual expeditions to the Southern Ocean The country’s fisheries agency is planning to replace the 30-year-old Nisshin Maru with either a new ship or a refitted one bought overseas The newspaper quoted agency officials as saying that a new mother ship was needed to haul whales on board to be butchered during Japan’s controversial “research” hunts in the Antarctic Whaling officials have also said they needed a faster ship to evade anti-whaling activists. The marine conservation group Sea Shepherd recently said it was abandoning its pursuit of Japan’s whalers in the Southern Ocean but has not ruled out a resumption of its campaign The group has clashed with the Japanese whaling fleet several times since it started obstructing the vessels in 2005 The introduction of a new mother ship is expected to anger anti-whaling nations as it signals Japan’s determination to continue slaughtering hundreds of whales in the Antarctic every winter Japan responded by revising its whaling plan, including reducing its catch quota by about a third The fleet left port at the end of last year aiming to catch 333 minke whales during its four-month expedition Critics of its whaling programme say the industry is propped up by taxpayers’ money. Annual subsidies, channelled through Japan’s Institute for Cetacean Research, averaged about ¥782m (£5m) between 1987 and 2012, according to a report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare which continues to kill whales in the name of research using massive subsidies,” Nanami Kurasawa secretary general of the Dolphin and Whale Action Network “The renewal of the mother ship would attract heavy criticism.” the Nisshin Maru is capable of holding up to 1,200 tons of whale meat in freezers below deck The International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986 but a clause in the ban allows Japan to catch whales and sell the meat on the open market despite a sharp decline in domestic consumption since the postwar period Japanese whaling officials say only lethal research can determine the age reproductive and other habits of whale populations – a claim challenged by environmentalists Thanassis Martinos-led Eastern Mediterranean Maritime (Eastmed) has picked up a new kamsarmax bulker from Japan’s Nisshin Shipping the acquisition takes Eastmed’s bulker fleet to 40 vessels It also owns 10 containerships and 29 tankers Various brokers are reporting the sale of 2016-built kamsarmax Western Monaco for $18m to $18.5m Clarksons is reporting the buyer as KCH Shipping Get our news on your inbox! Suscribe x MercoPress, en Español Montevideo, May 6th 2025 - 11:29 UTC Japanese whaling ship has caught fire near Antarctica leaving one crew member missing and raising fears of environmental damage Commenting for this story is now closed.If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page! Japanese owner emerges with at least 12 vessels under construction in China Nisshin Shipping of Japan has quietly beefed up its growing fleet with handysize bulker newbuildings. The low-profile shipowner is said to have at least a dozen 39,000-dwt bulkers under construction at Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering. Officials at both the Chinese shipyard and the shipowner declined to comment. A shipbuilding source familiar with Nisshin said the company began building ships at Jiangmen Nanyang in 2013. Animals 24-7 June 12, 2015 By 2013 released this photo and a video clip which ICR claimed showed the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker ramming the refueling tanker Sun Laurel shows that the Bob Barker was about the width of a third vessel from either the Nisshin Maru or the Sun Laurel The Bob Barker held a straight and steady course between the Nisshin Maru and the Sun Laurel obstructing the Sun Laurel from refueling the Nisshin Maru for the last ten days of the 2013 ICR whaling campaign Five times the Nisshin Maru closed the gap hit the Bob Barker broadside with multiple water cannon blasting the Bob Barker’s decks and eventually pushed the Bob Barker against the Sun Laurel Washington––The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has agreed to pay at least $2.55 million in damages to the Institute of Cetacean Research and Kyodo Senpaku the entities operating the Japanese “research” whaling industry “In exchange,” the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said in a June 8 “ICR will dismiss its action for more than $4.1 million in damages related to contempt [of court] and drop all claims against the former Sea Shepherd board of directors Funding for the settlement will come from money from other legal actions and settlements and will not include donor funds,” the announcement stipulated 2015 that the amount to be paid will actually be $3.32 million but did not say where the higher figure came from  The larger sum may include legal fees as well as damages Regardless of the total to be paid by the Sea Shepherds the sum exceeds the total Sea Shepherd annual budget as recently as 2006 The payment also raises to circa $28 million the sum paid by animal advocacy organizations over the past 31 months to animal use industries in settlement of claims upheld by courts––and some individual judges––who were formerly friendly toward pro-animal cases Elephants were front-and-center in this mid-20th century Ringling poster and American SPCA paid more than $25 million to Feld Entertainment Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of the Sea Shepherds District Court for the District of Columbia in the cases of HSUS and the ASPCA appear to signal increasing judicial concern about campaign tactics which may do more for fundraising than to expedite accomplishing advocacy goals The Sea Shepherd case focused on some of the high seas skirmishes that have made a hit of the ongoing Animal Planet TV series Whale Wars while the HSUS and ASPCA case involved 10 years of litigation which never even got to a ruling on the basis of the advocacy claims but was supported by many fundraising solicitations Said Sea Shepherd legal counsel Claire Loebs Davis “Sea Shepherd does not agree with the Ninth Circuit’s holding that it was in contempt but after more than two years of litigation we are very pleased to be putting the contempt action behind us We look forward to focusing on the continuing litigation in the district court,” filed by the Sea Shepherds in U.S “which provides Sea Shepherd with the opportunity to expose ICR’s dangerous and illegal activities in the Southern Ocean – including the violent actions taken against those who have tried to stop it from killing whales in violation of international law.” The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Bob Barker on February 26 2013 survived being repeatedly crunched between the much larger Japanese whaling factory ship Nisshin Maru and the Sun Laurel a Panamanian-flagged fuel oil tanker reportedly carrying a South Korean crew Pending litigation also includes an amended complaint filed by the Institute of Cetacean Research and Kyodo Senpaku on May 1 seeking a permanent injunction against Sea Shepherd and Watson and counterclaims to the amended complaint filed by Sea Shepherd on May 15 Federal District Court Judge Richard Jones in March 2012 denied a request for a preliminary injunction sought in 2011 by the Institute of Cetacean Research but Martin was reversed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2012 Ordered the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “Defendants Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Paul Watson  and any party acting in concert with them  are enjoined from physically attacking any vessel engaged by Plaintiffs the Institute of Cetacean Research  Tomoyuki Ogawa or Toshiyuki Miura in the Southern Ocean or any person on any such vessel  or from navigating in a manner that is likely to endanger the safe navigation of any such vessel  In no event shall defendants approach plaintiffs any closer than 500 yards when defendants are navigating on the open sea.” The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals followed up the injunction on February 27  2013 by formally designating the Sea Shepherds “pirates.”  “You don’t need a peg leg or an eye patch  When you ram ships;  hurl glass containers of acid;  drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers and rudders;  launch smoke bombs and flares with hooks;  and point high-powered lasers at other ships  no matter how high-minded you believe your purpose to be.” by moving Sea Shepherd operations beyond the jurisdiction of U.S Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson on January 8  2013 “resigned” from all leadership roles within the organization  officially turning the helm over to former Australian Green Party leader Bob Brown who relocated the Sea Shepherd international headquarters from Friday Harbor Sea Shepherd’s M/Y Steve Irwin (foreground) collides with Japanese harpoon whaling ship the Yushin Maru No during an engagement in Antarctica’s Ross Sea on Friday Sea Shepherd attempted to block the harpoon ship from offloading a newly caught minke whale to factory ship (Photo by Adam Lau/Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) Sea Shepherd chapter withdrew from participating in the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society International whale defense campaigns which continued with little change in tactics The Institute of Cetacean Research responded in early 2013 with a lawsuit accusing the Sea Shepherds of contempt of court “After an eight-day trial,” summarized the June 9 “an Appellate Commissioner recommended that neither Sea Shepherd nor any of its affiliates be found in contempt the Ninth Circuit disregarded this recommendation and found Sea Shepherd and former members of the Sea Shepherd board of directors in contempt of the injunction based on the actions of the independent foreign groups The Ninth Circuit also ordered the payment of damages resulting from this ‘contempt.’” The Ady Gii when first acquired by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 2009 the bio-diesel-fueled Ady Gil circumnavigated the world in just under 61 days in 2007 breakingthe previous record for powered vessels by 13 days but falling 11 days short of the overall record set in 2005 by the sail-powered catamaran Orange II A series of breakdowns and a collision with afishing vessel off Guatemala that killed a member of the fishing crew may have cost Earthrace the overall record A 10-day investigation determined that the fishing vessel was at fault Said current Sea Shepherd (U.S.) board president Ethan Wolf “Although we believe we abided by the injunction we must accept that the Ninth Circuit found Sea Shepherd and its former board of directors to be in contempt and it is time to put this dispute behind us.” “In a case set for trial in the fall of 2016 Sea Shepherd is seeking a declaration that ICR’s whaling in the Southern Ocean is illegal under international law as well as an injunction preventing ICR from using violent and dangerous tactics to protect its illegal activities Sea Shepherd is also asking the district court to award damages for ICR’s deliberate ramming of the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil in 2010.” The Sea Shepherds announced the settlement with the Institute of Cetacean Research one day after disclosing that the U.S 2015 declined to review the Ninth Circuit ruling The Ady Gil incident is also before the courts in three actions brought by multimillionaire investor Ady Gil himself Reported Caty Enders of The Guardian on June 5 “Gil claims Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson ordered Ady Gil captain Pete Bethune to scuttle the boat and make it look like the work of the Japanese are bringing lawsuits against Sea Shepherd and founder Paul Watson for damages “could cost the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as much as $50 million “Gil’s lawsuit was sent to arbitration in 2014 meaning that witness testimony and the plaintiff’s findings will not be made available to the public.” when Bethune told Gil in late 2010 that “after the [Japanese whale catcher] Shonan Maru 2 rammed his boat Watson gave the order for Bethune and his crew to open the hatches and sink the vessel in the middle of the night making it appear as though the collision had caused it to founder “An investigation by the New Zealand government almost a year after the sinking determined that both Bethune and the captain of the Shonan Maru 2 were to blame for the close-quarters situation and subsequent collision,” Enders continued “It did not offer an opinion on what prompted the sinking of the Ady Gil except to say that the boat’s engineers indicated it should not have sunk on its own The investigation found that the system that tracked the boat’s vitals had been thrown into the sea The collision and sinking both occurred on January 6 2010 boarded the Shonan Maru #2 from a Jet Ski and handed the captain a bill for the loss of the Ady Gil  Bethune was in July 2010 convicted in Tokyo District Court of illegally interfering with the whale hunt The Sea Shepherds paid much of the cost of Bethune’s legal defense after learning that he had taken a bow and arrows aboard the Ady Gil  violating Watson’s then-33-year-old policy that Sea Shepherd ships and volunteers must not carry deadly weapons Other prominent former Sea Shepherds had been expelled in the past for violating the no-weapons policy According to an e-mail transcript released by Watson on October 5  “When I met with Paul Watson in July 2009 he gave me permission to take a bow and arrow to Antarctica with the idea of pasting a poison on the arrow tips (or fake poison)  and firing them into dead whales while they were being transferred from harpoon vessel to processing ship.” this was a tactic that Watson had rejected  as a proposed method of protecting whales and African elephants and rhinos Bethune also alleged that the Sea Shepherds had reneged on a pledge to buy 800 copies of his book about the 2009-2010 anti-whaling campaign by telling Bethune that because Bethune “blamed all of your actions on me I am on the Interpol Blue List,”  inhibiting his freedom of movement “We cannot promote your book or allow you to be involved in Sea Shepherd activities.”  “What I would like to suggest is that you continue to do your thing independent of Sea Shepherd if you say nothing publicly about us.” at least half a dozen employees or high-ranking volunteers have left.” The Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker during the 2014 Antarctic campaign against Japanese whaling Said former Sea Shepherd Conservation Society deputy chief executive officer Chuck Swift who captained the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker during the 2010 Antarctic campaign and was involved with the Sea Shepherds for more than 20 years “To have an effective win for the whales or for the environment and to be able to stand proudly in front of our donors or the public we need to have accomplished that victory in an ethical way.” now works as a conservation consultant for a volunteer-based organization devoted to reporting and cleaning up ocean pollution Former CEO Steve Roest left the organization in 2011 with whom Roest founded Skycap and ShadowView which deploy drones to assist with anti-poaching missions a group that intervenes in poaching and deforestation and which has its own TV show He said five of his volunteers are Sea Shepherd veterans.” Artist’s concept of the Sea Shepherd ship now under construction “Sea Shepherd is having a banner year worldwide The organization has experienced record fundraising and announced in January 2015 that it will spend a $12 million award from a Dutch national charity on a new custom-built the North American branch purchased two decommissioned Coast Guard cutters and Whale Wars is slated to continue filming with Sea Shepherd Australia.” The original Sea Shepherd vessel Farley Mowat The former USCG Block Island and USCG Pea Island are now renamed the Jules Verne and the Farley Mowat “The new Farley Mowat replaces the first vessel Farley Mowat that Sea Shepherd purchased in 1997 and retired in 2008,” said a Sea Shepherd media release “The new vessel was purchased with a bequest left by former Sea Shepherd International chair and Canadian writer Farley Mowat The Jules Verne is named in honor of the French writer who gave the world the inspiring story of Captain Nemo,” the anti-war and anti-imperial antihero of the novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1874) from first edition of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea “The Jules Verne is partially sponsored by supporter John Paul DeJoria’s Peace Love & Happiness Foundation,” the Sea Shepherd announcement said “We have already offered the Jules Verne to assist the rangers at Cocos Island National Park Marine Reserve [Costa Rica] with anti-poaching interventions and the Farley Mowat has been offered to patrol the Sea of Cortez in partnership with the government of Mexico to protect the endangered vaquita,” a Sea Shepherd mission most recently handled by the sailing ketch RV Martin Sheen The Sea Shepherd “whales’ navy” now includes eight vessels altogether operated from 1990 to 1999 as the Edward Abbey was renamed the Sirenian and since 1999 has been on permanent assignment to patrolling the Galapagos National Park Marine Reserve off Ecuador The former Coast Guard patrol boats Block Island and Pea Island recently acquired by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Brigitte Bardot and the Jairo Mora Sandoval,” the Sea Shepherd release said is currently being constructed and will be launched in September 2016.” While celebrating the concession in the contempt case against the Sea Shepherds the Japanese whaling industry more quietly acknowledged killing 19 minke whales off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture in April and May 2015 “the lowest number since the whaling for research purposes started there in 2003,” according to the Japan Times Whaling team leader Toshihiro Mogoe said the Association for Community-Based Whaling fleet saw only 33 whales during 23 days at sea in photo distributed by the pro-whaling High North Alliance The Institute of Cetacean Research did not send ships to the Antarctic in 2014-2015 after the International Court of Justice in March 2014 ruled that the annual “research” hunt was illegal because it was conducted chiefly to obtain and sell whale meat But the “research” whaling fleet is now in the northwestern Pacific pursuing quotas of 90 sei whales and 25 Bryde’s whales assigned by the Japanese Fisheries Agency “The International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986 citing an exemption that allows for whale hunts to continue as long as they are done for ‘scientific research.’” Japan also subsidizes the Icelandic whaling industry The Icelandic cargo ship Winter Bay sailed for Japan on June 4 even though Japan has already stockpiled more whale meat than the industry has sold to consumers in several years the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society payments to the Institute of Cetacean Research and Kyodo Senpaku following the HSUS and ASPCA payments to Ringling have rekindled tactical debate among animal advocacy organization executives and fundraisers At issue is how far animal charities can push campaigns which have high emotional appeal to donors without courting the risk of losses that undercut donor enthusiasm The Japanese whalers’ case against the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society likely could not have succeeded if the Sea Shepherds had limited their tactics to documentation and non-confrontational obstruction rather than engaging in the “pirate” tactics denounced by Ninth Circuit judge Kozinksi none of which were demonstrably effective in saving whales but were popular parts of the Whale Wars reality drama HSUS and the ASPCA had long pursued litigation against the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus based on the novel legal theory that Ringling use of Asian elephants might violate the Endangered Species Act While there was little legal precedent for this view Ringling has announced plans to end elephant acts by 2018 Already the elephant has a diminished place in the Ringling Bros HSUS and codefendants in May 2014 paid Feld Entertainment $15.75 million to settle countersuits resulting from the attempt to sue Ringling This payment was in addition to $9.3 million paid to Ringling by the American SPCA in December 2012 The combined Ringling settlements of just over $25 million exceeded the annual budgets of all but about a dozen of the approximately 10,000 active U.S The co-plaintiffs in the original Ringling case were the ASPCA  with former Ringling elephant barn worker Tom Rider as an individual plaintiff  Their initial complaint was dismissed in 2001 after a judicial ruling that they lacked legal standing to proceed  to establish that he was injured in some manner by Ringling treatment of elephants Presiding over seven other major Endangered Species Act cases since 2002 Sullivan had always before ruled for the plaintiffs  Sullivan in a 57-page verdict slammed the plaintiffs––especially Rider  who had been paid at least $190,000 by the ASPCA while the case proceeded Beth & Merritt Clifton.(Geoff Geiger photo) Rider is essentially a paid plaintiff and fact witness who is not credible  and therefore affords no weight to his testimony,”  Sullivan wrote after absorbing the Fund for Animals in 2005 The Animal Protection Institute joined the case in 2006  bringing the Born Free Foundation into it when Born Free absorbed API at the end of 2007 Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email June 12, 2015 at 5:42 pm Divide and Conquer tactics continue to undermine efforts to protect our planet and those who share it with us June 12, 2015 at 6:09 pm Neither the American SPCA and Humane Society of the U.S payouts to Feld Entertainment nor the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society payout to the Institute of Cetacean Research can be attributed to any use of “divide and conquer” tactics though both Feld and the Japanese whaling industry have at times employed covert operatives to practice such tactics These circa $28 million worth of fiascoes can be attributed to leadership playing the emotions of the donor base by using tactics of great popularity but questionable strategic value in each instance against the recommendations of well-informed advisors Successful organizations and movements have the capacity to learn from mistakes and change tactics long before they produce backfires of this magnitude June 13, 2015 at 7:52 pm It seems that the animal use industries’ current tactical plan against animal protection is to combine suing the animal organizations with making it illegal to document animal abuse in these industries I can attest that the Ringling settlement has not only damaged the morale of donors it is making it harder to do outreach to circus-goers After hearing a woman I know talk about going to a (non-Ringling) circus I gently advised her to do some research on how the animals are caged and trained “I HAVE done my research,” she responded triumphantly “and I saw that the ASPCA had to pay several million dollars to Ringling Bros.!” I responded that the payout wasn’t because allegations of cruelty aren’t true but because the humane groups lacked standing to sue; don’t just believe what the circuses say–read info from both sides before deciding; and a couple quick facts about how long circus animals remain tightly confined when not on-stage–but I could tell by her brusque manner that her mind was made up and she didn’t want to hear it It seems that the payouts are becoming another quick offhand way for circus fans to dismiss people who care about animals For the third time Studio Ghibli has realized a spot for Nisshin Seifun The cats have been designed by Toshio SUZUKI and the spot directed by Katsuya KONDO in the sumi-e style (traditional painting using black ink) And have a look at the first two commercials: Sources: www.catsuka.com Athens-based company has acquired a seven-year-old vessel W Marine, a Greek bulker player founded by Yiannis Sarantitis and led by Nikos Triantafyllakis, has bought its fourth ship in 12 months, continuing an expansion course that has seen it invest in younger secondhand vessels. The panamax, kamsarmax and post-panamax owner has confirmed the acquisition of the 81,100-dwt Presinge Trader (built 2016) — a ship controlled by Japan’s Nisshin Shipping. The price is significantly higher than the $16.76m placed on the Jiangsu Hantong-built vessel by VesselsValue although the vessel has just completed its latest survey in February Nisshin Shipping sold four vessels last year and has put three kamsarmaxes up for sale as it looks to make room for an influx of newbuilds The Japanese company has 47 vessels on order according to VesselsValue of which 28 are ultramaxes on order in China It currently has a fleet of 59 vessels on the water The company sold two 1995-built handymax vessels in 2018 as it works to renew its fleet Japan’s Nisshin Shipping has spent the first month of the year trimming its bulker fleet minimising its exposure to the ongoing dry cargo bloodbath at a rate of more than one a week in 2016 so far according to sales registers Splash has access to Last week Turkish power ship specialist Karadeniz was reported paying around $6m for the 2001-built cape Nisshin has also sold the 2013-built 84,000 dwt Canon Trader I The Japanese line is rebalancing its fleet to have a far stronger focus on tankers Japanese owner Nisshin Shipping is entering the gas shipping market having placed an order for the construction of a 174,000 cu m LNG carrier at South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries Nisshin Shipping will pay a price of $191.3m for the vessel with delivery scheduled in 2022 Nisshin Shipping currently operates in the bulker and tanker market owning a fleet of 33 bulkers and 26 tankers The company is in the middle of massive fleet rejuvenation programme and has a total 46 newbuildings under construction at Japanese and Chinese yards The promising outlook for the LNG shipping market has boosted the LNG carrier newbuilding market in the past couple of years a total of 101 LNG carriers have been ordered since January 2018 Japan’s largest whaling company is banking on a new mother ship to pull the industry out of the doldrums which measures more than 100 meters in length in March 2024 as a successor to its aging Nisshin Maru estimated at 6 billion to 7 billion yen ($47 million to $55 million) on its own except for the 300 million yen in subsidies to be provided by the city government of Shimonoseki said the whaling business is promising enough to justify the outlays “We will continue whaling for 30 more years after the ship is up and ready,” he said at a business fair for restaurant industry officials held in Tokyo on May 16 His remark was the flip side of the concerns being voiced over the industry’s future Japan resumed commercial whaling in July 2019 a month after it withdrew from the International Whaling Commission Despite hopes that the move would help expand domestic whale meat consumption the country’s whaling catch limit dropped sharply following the secession Japan was allowed to catch more than 300 whales a year in the Antarctic Ocean in the name of research whaling when it was an IWC member But commercial whaling is not allowed in the Antarctic under an international treaty The new vessel will replace the Nisshin Maru to serve as the mother ship in Kyodo Senpaku’s whaling fleet Whales captured by catcher boats are dissected and preserved on board the ship The new vessel will have a total length of 112.6 meters and a gross tonnage of 8,970 tons compared with the 130-meter-long Nisshin Maru with a gross tonnage of 8,145 tons A 5-meter-long miniature model was seen undergoing a demonstration test on May 19 in a gigantic pool that measures 220 meters long and 6 meters deep at Akishima Laboratories (Mitsui Zosen) Inc.’s research facility in western Tokyo The test was designed to take measurements of the water’s resistance and determine if the vessel lives up to the designed performance Construction of the ship will begin in February if no problems are to be found with its design has received the order for building the vessel Japan’s whaling industry is expected to continue to suffer rough sailing Kyodo Senpaku’s annual whale meat production has dropped to about 1,600 tons down from about 2,400 tons under the scientific whaling framework which posted an operating loss of more than 800 million yen in the business year ending in March 2021 hopes to return to the black in the current business year through hikes in whale meat prices and cost reductions an expansion in the government-designated catch limit would be indispensable if the company were to finance the construction of the new ship the ship is designed in such a way that it can be used to dissect fin whales large cetaceans that Japan has voluntarily refrained from catching A Fisheries Agency official warned against any wishful thinking “The catch limit is determined only on scientific grounds,” the official said A possible catch limit expansion would not be the end of the story It remains uncertain whether domestic whale meat consumption can be expanded when fewer Japanese remember whale meat as a familiar food item 11-meter dead whale buried in Osaka to retrieve bones in 2 years Dolphins caught yawning underwater for the 1st time Cancer victim honors five-year bond with stray beluga whale No reproduction or republication without written permission Japan's Nisshin Oillio Group will source cacao beans from farms owned by Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group TOKYO -- Indonesia's growing middle class and its fondness for Western food has prompted Japanese food company Nisshin Oillio Group to start producing chocolate in the country embarked on a joint venture in February with Salim Ivomas Pratama a cacao plantation unit of Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group Daito Cacao will put 51% of the $32 million total investment.