WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark has said that a crippled Japanese whaling ship, floating without power for nearly a week, should accept outsider help.
The ship, the Nisshin Maru, has been floating without power, 110 miles from the world's largest penguin breeding site, since a fire broke out on one of the lower decks last Thursday, The Times of London reported.
Since the incident, Japanese officials have turned down offers from the U.S. and Greenpeace to tow the ship to a safe harbor.
New Zealand is officially responsible for rescues in the Ross Sea. Clark is also worried that the Japanese whaling fleet will face big problems if there was an oil spill that could have been avoided.
"My advice is if you can't see a way of getting that boat out of there without some help either from the American vessel or from Greenpeace or from somebody else, the world is going to be very upset if there's a major spill in that area," Clark told New Zealand radio station, NewstalkZB.
The Japanese whaling fleet maintains that their other six tankers will be able to tow the ship to safety.
