'Japan's plutonium ship won't pass through Indonesian waters'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP)): The Japanese government has guaranteed that the
\nplutonium-laden ship, Pacific Pintail, will not pass through
\nIndonesian waters on its way to Japan, the Indonesian foreign
\nministry disclosed yesterday.<\/p>\n
The ministry of foreign affairs' director general of
\ninformation, Irawan Abidin, said the guarantee was given through
\nthe Japanese embassy here in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"We have received a guarantee that the ship will not pass
\nthrough our waters," he said.<\/p>\n
The Pacific Pintail left Cherbourg harbor, France, on
\nThursday, carrying some 13.7 tons of reprocessed nuclear waste.<\/p>\n
This is the second shipment of nuclear waste to Japan in the
\npast two-years, out of what is expected to be a total of 20
\nshipments over the next 10 years. The first shipment was
\nsuccessfully transported by the ship Akatsuki Maru in 1993.<\/p>\n
As was with the Akatsuki Maru, the Pacific Pintail's route has
\nbeen kept secret.<\/p>\n
The international environmental group Greenpeace has said that
\nit is quite likely that the ship will pass through Indonesian
\nwaters; either through the Straits of Lombok or through the
\nStraits of Malacca, which are administered jointly by Indonesia,
\nSingapore and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
The Straits of Malacca remain one of the busiest and most
\naccident prone seaways in the world.<\/p>\n
Irawan told The Jakarta Post that he expected the Japanese
\ngovernment would also have been in communication with Indonesia's
\nneighbors concerning the shipment.<\/p>\n
Irawan said yesterday he had been told that the Pacific
\nPintail would not pass through any sea lanes in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n
He speculated that the Pacific Pintail's route would be
\nsimilar to that of the Akatsuki Maru which took a two-month
\njourney around the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean and
\naround Australia, before heading north to Japan.<\/p>\n
Tokyo's guarantee averted the issuance by Jakarta of a strong
\nstatement, a copy of which has been obtained by the Post. The
\nstatement objects vehemently to such a dangerous shipment passing
\nthrough Indonesian territorial waters.<\/p>\n
A number of local environmental groups had earlier feared that
\nthe silence on the part of the government regarding the
\ncontroversial plutonium shipment was a signal that Indonesia
\nmight have given its consent to the freighter passing through its
\nwaters. (mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/japans-plutonium-ship-wont-pass-through-indonesian-waters-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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