The Nisshin Maru has been disabled in Antarctic waters since a fire broke out on Thursday, prompting fears of an oil spill.

The ship is carrying more than 1.3 million litres of fuel and lies just 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the world's biggest Adelie penguin colony, at Cape Adare on the Antarctic coast.

Clark was not prepared to offer the ship port facilities in New Zealand and said it should be towed back to Japan.

"We would like to see that stricken ship out of there as soon as possible," she told reporters.

"I think it needs to be towed back to where it came from, and one would hope the fact that this season has been so ghastly for the Japanese whaling fleet might give cause for some reflection on whether they come back again."

Clark said New Zealand maritime officials continued to talk to the Japanese about the ship.

The situation was being handled at an appropriate level, but if necessary she would raise it with Japan's prime minister.

Clark said she understood both Greenpeace and an American icebreaker had offered assistance, but the Japanese had insisted they could cope.

"They'd better be right because no one would forgive them for an environmental accident which causes huge damage to that pristine area," she told radio Newstalk ZB.

"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."

A spokesman for the New Zealand rescue coordination centre, Steve Corbett, said the risk of an environmental disaster was "relatively low".

Although encroaching pack ice was a threat, the ship was drifting north and was about 16 kilometres from the ice.

Corbett said the Nisshin Maru would probably not need a tow from the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, a former Soviet tug.

The Japanese whalers have six vessels there and "they should be able to rig up some sort of arrangement," he said. But he added the ships would be more vulnerable to the ice and less maneuverable if they were lashed together.

The whalers were Monday continuing to make repairs to the ship and dampen down hotspots from the fire which claimed the life of one crewman.

Corbett said they had managed to restart a generator, restoring heating and lighting to the vessel.

"They are now concentrating on trying to get the engines going. They are also rigging up some towing arrangements just in case they can't get them going."

Greenpeace spokeswoman Sara Holden, on board the Esperanza, said a helicopter survey of the area Monday morning showed a large finger of ice closing in on the ship from the east.

The cause of the fire is not known, but authorities ruled out any connection with recent protest action by the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, one of whose ships collided with a whaler last week.

earlier related report
Greenpeace says stricken whaler has asked for help
Wellington (AFP) Feb 17 - Environmental campaigner Greenpeace said Saturday a stricken Japanese whaler off the Antarctic coast had asked its protest ship Esperanza to stay close as fears of an ecological disaster mount. The Japanese previously said they would not accept help from Greenpeace, describing the organisation as "eco-terrorists."

The Nisshin Maru, a whaling factory ship, has had no propulsion since a fire erupted below decks on Thursday. The Esperanza, a former Soviet tug, was within sight of the whaler on Saturday and told the Japanese skipper it was now there to help.

"We can see them now and we are here to offer any assistance they need," Greenpeace spokeswoman Karli Thomas said from Esperanza.

"As far as we are concerned the Nisshin Maru is not a whaling ship now, it is a vessel in distress."

She said they had been in direct contact with the Japanese skipper to assure him they were there to help.

"He received our offer and basically said yes, please stand by. They know we are here and on standby."

There are fears 1.3 million litres (338,000 US gallons) of fuel could leak into the ocean if the ship founders, leading to an ecological disaster.

Thomas said Esperanza was the most suitable towing ship in the area and its Dutch skipper, Frank Kamp, had 10 years' experience as a salvage skipper.

There is sufficient equipment on board to tow the whaling ship.

"The logical choice would be to the nearest port. The nearest port would be somewhere in New Zealand." Thomas said conditions were reasonably calm but that was not expected to last.

"Conditions down here can be extremely hostile and the main thing is to secure the ship, make sure everyone is okay and get the ship out of the area," she said.

"It is a pristine environment down here and we can't risk any damage to that."

New Zealand's Conservation Minister Chris Carter has said it is imperative to move the stricken ship before the existing "window" of fine weather closes at the end of the weekend.

The cause of the fire was not known, but authorities ruled out any connection with recent protest action by the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, one of whose ships collided with a whaler last week.

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

earlier related report
Standoff over stricken Japanese whaler continues
Wellington (AFP) Feb 17 - The standoff over a stricken Japanese whaler off Antarctica continued Saturday as Tokyo rejected New Zealand's pleas to move the ship amid fears of an environmental catastrophe.

High-level talks were underway as New Zealand continued to pressure Japan to move the Nisshin Maru away from the pristine coastline.

The whaling ship, crippled by fire, is carrying 1.3 million litres (338,000 US gallons) of oil and lies just 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the world's biggest Adelie penguin colony, at Cape Adare.

The Greenpeace ship Esperanza, a former tug, is in the area but Japan has turned down offers of help from the environmental group, dismissing them as "eco-terrorists".

But as fears of an ecological disaster mount, Greenpeace said the Nisshin Maru has asked the Esperanza to stay close.

"We can see them now and we are here to offer any assistance they need," Greenpeace spokeswoman Karli Thomas said from protest ship.

"He received our offer and basically said yes, please stand by. They know we are here and on standby."

The New Zealand government -- responsible for maritime safety in the Southern Ocean -- wants the whaling ship to accept outside help.

New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre spokesman Steve Corbett said that while there was no immediate problem there was no guarantee it would stay that way.

He said because the ship was virtually dead in the water it could founder if the seas turned rough as forecast over the next few days.

Corbett said there were "diplomatic efforts" to have the vessel moved but it was a "grey area" whether it could be forced to accept the Greenpeace offer.

"There are some protocols but whether they can be applied in this situation ... it is pretty complicated," Corbett said.

Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for Japan's whaling programme, said the whaling fleet's oil tanker, the Oriental Bluebird, was alongside the Nisshin Maru and was "fully able" to tow it out of the area if required.

The vessel was not drifting, listing or leaking. "Fears that this might turn into some environmental disaster are premature," he said. In Tokyo, an official at Japan's Fisheries Agency told AFP there was no threat of an oil leakage and "no worries over environmental pollution."

New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter said it would be reasonable for the Japanese to accept help from Greenpeace.

"The Nisshin Maru is dead in the water," Carter said. "This ship is not going to be powered up... somehow we have got to get that ship away from the coast.

"If we do -- in a worst-case scenario -- have an oil spill, then the further out the ship is then the safer it will be."

Meanwhile, crew on the Nisshin Maru on Saturday found the body of seaman Kazutaka Makita missing since the fire erupted below decks two days ago.

"I can't confirm where his body was found," Inwood said. "All I have been told is that they have recovered the body of Mr Makita.

The cause of the fire was not known, but authorities ruled out any connection with recent protest action by the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, one of whose ships collided with a whaler last week.

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

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