On May 21, Japan’s newest whaling factory ship, the Kangei Maru, sailed for the first time from the port of Shimonoseki, marking a momentous occasion for the country’s whaling history. With dimensions of 112.6 meters (369 feet) long by 21 meters (68 feet) wide and a weight of about 9,299 tons, the $48 million ship is an enormous construction. With a maximum speed of 13,000 kilometers (almost 8,100 miles), the ship can make it all the way to the Antarctic.
As a mothership, the Kangei Maru facilitates the delivery of harvested whales to a central hub by smaller whaling vessels. Whale flesh is killed, quality-checked, and frozen in an onboard processing unit, according to the ship’s owner, Kyodo Senpaku. Hideki Tokoro, the president of Kyodo Senpaku, declared during the ship’s departure ceremony, “We will work as one to maintain whaling culture forever.”
This breakthrough comes after the Japanese government announced on May 9 that whalers were permitted to hunt fin whales, bringing the total number of commercial whaling species in Japan to four: minke whales, sei whales, Bryde’s whales, and fin whales. Conservation groups throughout the world are incensed by Japan’s plan to expand its whaling activities, viewing it as a major setback to attempts to conserve whales.
“These new plans to hunt fin whales are incredibly alarming. These are the second biggest whale on earth. Killing whales causes significant suffering due to the size of the animals, not to mention the fact that considerable time often passes between the first harpoon strike and death,” said Nicola Beynon, head of campaigns at the Australian branch of the Humane Society International (HSI).
Adam Peyman, HSI’s director of wildlife programs, added, “All whale species are battling a range of threats in their marine environment, including climate change, noise pollution, ship strikes, and fisheries bycatch. There is no nutritional, scientific, or moral justification for killing these magnificent ocean giants.”
After leaving the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which had governed the whaling industry since its 1982 ban, Japan started commercial whaling again in June 2019. Under the guise of scientific study, Norway, Denmark/Greenland, Iceland, Russia, and Japan all carried on whaling despite the IWC moratorium.
Japan’s latest push to revive whaling includes a PR campaign addressing the “one-sided anti-whaling media.” While some whale populations have recovered due to the IWC’s halt on whaling, many face new threats like climate change and pollution. The suffering inflicted on whales during commercial hunts remains a significant ethical concern.