KEY POINTS:
Fine weather is helping Japanese seamen working around the clock to repair their crippled Nisshin Maru.
However, it is also causing a growing nervousness among authorities.
The whale factory ship has been wallowing in the Ross Sea without engines since a fire badly damaged its wiring last Thursday.
New Zealand maritime authorities have urged the Japanese to accept a tow from Greenpeace so it at least can be moved away from Antarctica.
That way, they say, the chances of a huge environmental disaster will be reduced if it founders and leaks the 1000 tonnes of fuel oil, heavy chemicals and pollutants on board.
Since the fire some power has been restored. A three-degree list caused by the water used to fight the fire has been corrected using portable pumps from other ships in the whaling fleet.
The Japanese skipper had told authorities he would rather stay in calm weather instead of being towed north into worse weather.
However, Peter Williams, Maritime New Zealand's deputy director of safety and response systems, said yesterday that towing the ship north was the best option.
Nisshin Maru is rafted up between the tanker Oriental Bluebird and the smaller whaler Yushin Maru. If the weather turned nasty that could lead to disaster, said Mr Williams, a 28-year veteran of the Royal Navy.
Once the sea rose the ships could not stay together without risking serious damage and if the engines had not been repaired that would leave the Nisshin Maru at the mercy of the weather.
"The question is, how long is that good weather going to continue?" he said. "You can tow in rough conditions but in rough conditions the risk of parting the tow is greater."
Mr Williams said the risk was that the Nisshin Maru could become a "dead vessel which could not be manoeuvred, that could not be towed and it is in an area where it could hit an iceberg and cause pollution".
Although the Oriental Bluebird could tow the ship, it was not designed for that. Esperanza, a former Russian firefighting ship, was the most suitable in the area but the Japanese had refused Greenpeace help.
Nor was there any knowledge about the skill and experience of the Japanese to handle a complex tow.
However, he said the master of the Esperanza was reported to be an experienced salvage master.
"They [the Nisshin Maru] are clearly in communication back to the Japanese coastguard ... and they can seek advice by radio but to me there is no substitute for an experienced towing expert on the scene."
- NZPA
