From: Greenpeace Vessel MV Solo tracking Pacific Pintail
Date: WED 12-APR-95 06:06:53 GMT - DAY 49

NUCLEAR WASTE SHIP PASSES HAWAII EN ROUTE TO JAPAN

The Pacific Pintail's position (0600 GMT) is 20 degrees 41 minutes North, and 169 degrees and 35 minutes West. The Pintail's course is 290 degrees and the ship's speed is 14 knots. We are currently some 250 miles southwest of French Frigate Shoals. For other distances to Pacific Islands please see enclosed table.

We continue on our travels to Japan keeping a safe distance from the nuclear waste ship. During our 49 day trip so far, the Pintail has acknowledged no radio contact with us of any kind, not even when we radioed to warn that they were nearing a site where nuclear waste barrels were lost at sea of the coast of Spain. This refusal to communicate with us is synonymous with the companies and governments carrying out the plutonium trade's refusal to provide the route of the shipment, any safety or liability details and information about future plans.

Hawaiian Governor Cayetano is believed to have sent a letter to US President Clinton expressing his grave concern about the shipment nearing his waters and the impossibility of Hawaii being able to deal with any potential disaster. The companies and governments involved in this plutonium trade have scattered responsibility for the waste shipment and it is unclear how much liability money would be available if an accident should occur. Marine insurers in 1991 refused to accept liability for the costs of a nuclear accident because they could not afford to pay the astronomical compensation claims that would result. At the time, a nuclear accident in the North Sea was estimated to total at least $7 billion. The shipment of nuclear waste onboard the Pintail consists of 13 million curies, or some half of the radioactivity that was released during the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986.

Pacific State City/Island Distance/Direction relative to PP's course

Hawaii, Oahu Honolulu 660 miles, 150 degrees right of PP
Tahiti Papeete 2,580 miles, 140 degrees left of PP
Kiribati Bairiki 1,550 miles, 70 degrees left of PP
Nauru Nauru Island 1,870 miles, 160 degrees left of PP
Western Samoa Apia 2,075 miles, 110 degrees left of PP
American Samoa Pago Pago 2,080 miles, 110 degrees left of PP
Tonga Nuku'Alofa 2,530 miles, 110 degrees left of PP
Tuvalu Funafuti 1,880 miles, 90 degrees left of PP
Fiji Suva 2,440 miles, 90 degrees left of PP
Solomon Isl. Honiara 2,565 miles, 65 degrees left of PP
Vanuatu Palikulo Bay 2,590 miles, 80 degrees left of PP
F.S. Micronesia Pohnpei 2,065 miles, 85 degrees left of PP
Marshall Isl. Bikini 1,550 miles, 40 degrees left of PP
Guam Guam 2,690 miles, 30 degrees left of PP
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)
Bas Bruyne (Campaigner)

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