The position of the Pacific Pintail at 0700 GMT was 50 degrees and 22 minutes south and 54 degrees and 44 minutes west, on a distance of some 130 miles northeast of the Falklands/Malvinas islands. We are sailing on a compass course of 200 degrees, at a speed of 12 knots. We expect to reach Argentinean waters South of these islands by midnight, Saturday.
The Argentinean House of Representatives at midnight Wednesday, passed a resolution urging the Executive Branch of the Argentinean Government to ban the Pacific Pintail in Argentinean jurisdictional waters.
The current transport onboard the Pacific Pintail involves glassified high level nuclear waste generated by plutonium reprocessing in France for the Japanese. Greenpeace calls for a world-wide ban on the production of all plutonium --both military and civil--in its campaign to halt nuclear weapons production and proliferation. The organization is encouraging countries around the world to call for a halt to the plutonium industry at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) talks in April at the United Nations in New York.
If additional information on the Pacific Pintail's voyage or it's cargo of plutonium waste is required, please contact Bas Bruyne on the Solo (phone: ++871-1301166--warning $10 per minute), or Karen Richardson at Greenpeace UK (phone: ++44-171-226-3151). Photo, video or other media requests to Blair Palese or Mark Warford at Greenpeace Communications (phone: ++44-171-8330-600).
Media and others interested in tracking the shipment's route daily should access Greenpeace World Wide Web site at: http://www.greenpeace.org/
Best regards and No Nukes!
Ulf Birgander (Captain)
Bas Bruyne (Campaigner)
From: MV Solo
Date: FRI 17-MAR-95 19:11:56 GMT - DAY 23, PART II
The position of the Pacific Pintail at 1900 GMT was 52 degrees and 20 minutes south and 56 degrees and 28 minutes west, on a distance of some 65 miles southeast of Port Stanley on the Falklands/Malvinas islands. The Pacific Pintail changed course at 1500 GMT and is now steering a compass course of 225 degrees at a speed of 10.5 knots.
We will enter the 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone of Argentina around 0400 GMT -- provided the Pintail maintains its course and speed. We are currently still some 95 miles away from the boundary of the EEZ, and the Pintail could decide to follow this border all the way around Cape Horn.
This afternoon we spoke with a representative from the Argentinean Navy who inquired about the position of the Pintail. Asked if Argentina was going to allow the shipment to pass through its EEZ, he answered that at the very moment a "high meeting was taking place on the subject." The Argentinean House of Representatives passed a resolution late Wednesday night urging the Executive Branch of the Argentinean Government to ban the Pacific Pintail out of the waters under Argentinean jurisdiction.
In the mean time, the Chilean Government has taken a very strong position on the looming passage of the Pintail through its waters. Chile's Government has banned the shipment from all its territorial and jurisdictional waters and has entrusted its Navy with enforcement. In passing the ban, the Chilean Senate referred to the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea stating that maritime activities should not have a negative impact on the protection and preservation of the marine environment and its live resources. The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Jorge Martinez Busch has said that naval planes and ships will start surveillance of the Pacific Pintail as soon as the ship gets close to Chilean waters. Greenpeace expects that to happen around 1100 GMT on Sunday.
It is unclear if the Argentinean authorities will actually enforce their decision to prohibit the Pintail from their EEZ. Should they choose to not enforce the prohibition then a confrontation could occur between the Pintail and the Chilean Navy when the ship crosses from Argentinean into Chilean waters.
In an urgent telex from Greenpeace's ship Solo to the Pacific Pintail yesterday, we informed the vessel's captain that it is of grave concern to Greenpeace that he is attempting to force his way through the waters of a region where his ship and its radioactive cargo have been rejected out of safety concerns and public opposition.
The current transport onboard the Pacific Pintail involves glassified high level nuclear waste generated in the course of plutonium reprocessing in France for the Japanese. Greenpeace calls for a world-wide ban on the production of all plutonium --both military and civil--in its campaign to halt nuclear weapons production and proliferation. Greenpeace is encouraging countries around the world to call for a halt to the plutonium industry at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) talks in April at the United Nations in New York.
For additional information on the Pacific Pintail's voyage or it's cargo of plutonium waste is required, please contact Bas Bruyne on the Solo (phone: ++871-1301166--warning $10 per minute), or Karen Richardson at Greenpeace UK (phone: ++44-171-226-3151). Photo, video or other media requests to Blair Palese or Mark Warford at Greenpeace Communications (phone: ++44-171-833-0600).
Media and others interested in tracking the shipment's route daily should access Greenpeace World Wide Web site at: HTTP://WWW.greenpeace.org/
Best regards and No Nukes!
Ulf Birgander (Captain)
Bas Bruyne (Campaigner)