Maritime New Zealand spokesman Steve Corbett said it was not clear if the missing crewman, a 27-year-old Japanese national, was on the ship or had gone overboard into the freezing waters of the Ross Sea.

The Nisshin Maru was part of a Japanese whaling fleet which has been hounded in Antarctic waters by the environmental group Sea Shepherd, as activists protested the fleet's plan to hunt nearly 1,000 whales.

The International Whaling Commission imposed a moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, but Japan has continued hunting for what it calls scientific research.

Earlier this week, a whaler and a protest ship collided.

But Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said his vessels were well clear of the Nisshin Maru when the fire broke out.

"We haven't had contact with the vessel for about three days now and have been heading back to port because we are short of fuel," he told Sky News Australia.

"They are about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) away from us now, so all we got was a distress signal through New Zealand search and rescue."

A spokesman for Japan's Fisheries Agency confirmed that the fire and the protests were apparently unrelated, saying: "We have not seen any relations between the fire and the attacks by activists."

The fire was reportedly brought under control several hours after the distress call was made.

"The fire started in a processing room at the rear of the vessel. It spread quite quickly and became rather intense," Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for the Japanese whaling industry, told Radio New Zealand.

"We evacuated 120 crew. About 40 remained on board to deal with the fire and they did bring it under control after some time."

There was speculation the fire was fuelled by whale meat and oil in the factory ship, but this was not immediately confirmed by the Japanese.

Rescue officials were unable to confirm reports of an explosion before the fire.

The missing crewman was identified as 27-year-old Kazutaka Makita, the Fisheries Agency spokesman said.

There were no deaths or injuries among the rest of the crew, and the ship remained afloat.

"There is no fear of sinking as the fire is coming under control," the Japanese spokesman said.

New Zealand's Environment Minister Chris Carter said concerns remained over the potential for environmental damage.

"We are also gravely concerned about the risk to Antarctica's pristine environment if the ship is sufficiently damaged to begin leaking oil," he said.

"We are working on contingencies to deal with this scenario at present." Carter said the Japanese whaler was already leaking toxic water which had built up in the ship during the fight against the fire.

He said the Japanese had not asked New Zealand for help, and if they did it would take six-and-a-half days for a tug to reach them.

Carter said the government would be "reluctant" to tow the ship to a New Zealand port, given its role in whaling and because it was carrying "nasty" chemicals used for processing the whale meat on board.

He said he had made contact with Australia, Britain and the United States, as well as the Japanese ambassador in New Zealand, in case an international clean-up mission was required.

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