From: Greenpeace vessel MV Solo tracking Pacific Pintail
Date: FRI 31-MAR-95 06:03:44 GMT - DAY 37, PART I
PLEASE NOTE: AS OF MARCH 31, SOLO'S SATELLITE PHONE IS: ++872 1330 1166 (WARNING $10 PER MINUTE) AND FAX IS: ++872 1330 1167
The Pacific Pintail's position (0600 GMT) is 24 degrees 45 minutes south, and 118 degrees and 32 minutes west, and the ship's course is 320 degrees, sailing at a speed of 13.5 knots.
The transport of plutonium and radioactive waste is legitimised by the current Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty's (NPT) explicit encouragement of commercial nuclear activities, like plutonium separation. The threat that this commerce poses to global and regional security as well as to the world's delicate ecosystems can only be countered by a global ban on the separation of plutonium. Greenpeace is encouraging countries around the world to call for a halt to the plutonium industry at the NPT Extension Conference in April at the United Nations in New York.
Pacific states will play a crucial role during the vote on the Treaty's extension. An indefinite extension would protect the position the nuclear weapon states enjoy in the world-order and their ability to threathen global security with their nuclear forces. France, the United Kingdom, the United States and other nuclear weapon states have been actively promoting an indefinite extension of the NPT. Greenpeace calls on all Pacific Island States to stand up to the pressure of nuclear weapon states and to oppose an indefinite extension of the Treaty. A stronger, more effective NPT must be negotiated to stop this trade.
PLEASE NOTE: AS OF TODAY MARCH 31, SOLO'S PHONE NUMBER IS: ++872 1330 1166 (WARNING--$10 PER MIN.), FAX: ++872 1330 1167
The OPANAL General Conference of 30 Latin American and Caribbean states has issued a declaration voicing "deep concern" about the Japanese/French/British nuclear waste shipment currently being tracked by Greenpeace in the Pacific. The regional forum has called for the enactment of international legislation to "avoid the high risks inherent to these transports." OPANAL is the "Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean" and was established by the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco which was enacted to prohibit nuclear weapons from the region while calling on the nuclear weapons states to honour the region's non-nuclear status.
The important declaration comes days after the British-flagged ship "Pacific Pintail", carrying an unprecedented shipment of 14 tonnes of highly radioactive nuclear waste from France to Japan, sailed through waters off of Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile despite the opposition of these Latin American nations. The Pintail had already been turned away from its preferred Caribbean/Panama Canal route after intense political opposition and condemnation was voiced in that region. The secretive voyage has occasioned bitter international opposition and has prompted over 35 countries to ban the transport from their waters.
For additional information on the Pacific Pintail's voyage or it's cargo of plutonium waste, contact Bas Bruyne on the Solo (phone: ++872-1301166--WARNING $10 PER MINUTE), or Karen Richardson at Greenpeace UK (phone: ++44-171-226-3151). Photo, video, or other media requests to Blair Palese at Greenpeace Communications (phone: ++44-171-833-0600).
Best regards and No Nukes!
Ulf Birgander (Captain)