KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's rescue service will try to speak to crew of a burning whaling ship in the Southern Ocean today to establish whether the fire is out.
The Nisshin Maru is the main ship of a Japanese fleet.
It was hunting whales about 260 nautical miles north of
New Zealand's Scott Base in Antarctica when it sent out a distress call at 5.15am yesterday, following an explosion and subsequent fire.
Maritime New Zealand spokesman Steve Corbett told NZPA the fire had been sealed off, but as far as he knew it had not burnt itself out overnight.
MNZ would be attempting to contact the fleet this morning, Mr Corbett said.
New Zealand is responsible for search and rescue in the international waters where the ship issued its mayday call.
Mr Corbett said 31 people were on board the Nisshin Maru and the remaining crew had been evacuated to four support vessels.
"(Crew members) managed to get into the space where the fire was late yesterday afternoon, and sprayed some water around, but they (were) beaten back by heat and dense smoke."
Poor visibility meant crew couldn't establish the extent or origin of the fire, so they resealed the area and would be returning this morning, he said.
There was still no sign of crew member Kazutaka Makita, 27, who has been missing since the explosion.
Mr Corbett said no other injuries or missing people had been reported.
He said the ship's owners said no oil had been spilt last time he spoke to them.
"At the moment the situation is under control, but the threat of environmental damage still remains."
The vessel didn't have power, but until crew were able to assess the damage, they wouldn't know whether the ship was too compromised to sail back to Japan unaided.
Mr Corbett said he didn't know whether any whale carcasses were on board the Nisshin Maru.
Antarctica New Zealand chief executive Lou Sanson told Radio NZ the ship was about 100 nautical miles away from one of the world's largest Adelie penguin colonies at Cape Adair.
"The currents in the Ross Sea do run from where the ship has been on fire towards Cape Adair so if there was any potential oil spill it may end up on that coast."
- NZPA
