Japanese Whalers Set Sail, Say Witnesses

Nov. 17, 2008 -- Japan's whaling fleet set sail Monday, environmentalists said, apparently on an annual Antarctic hunt likely to provoke fresh friction with anti-whaling countries such as Australia.

Greenpeace said its activists saw the whalers depart from a port in western Hiroshima prefecture waved off by their families and whaling officials.

The Fisheries Agency and the operator of the factory ship refused to confirm whether the fleet had left on its annual five-month Antarctic voyage, which last year departed on November 18.

"We cannot disclose any information on its departure out of consideration for the safety of the crew," said a spokesman for boat operator Kyodo Senpaku.

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Greenpeace said the fleet left from a pier on Innoshima island, instead of its usual departure point of Shimonoseki, led by the 8,000-ton "Nisshin Maru" factory ship.

"The fleet attempted to leave Japan quietly," a Greenpeace statement said.

During the last Antarctic hunt, activists from the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society tracked down and hurled bottles of chemicals at the fleet in an attempt to disrupt operations, leading Japan to label them "terrorists."

Greenpeace also denounced the hunt but decided not to chase the whalers this year as it fights to clear two activists being prosecuted in Japan on charges of stealing whale meat during an investigation into alleged corruption.