Greenpeace forces NYK Orion to surrender whale meat at Rotterdam

NYK LINE's 9,120-TEU NYK Orion has surrendered seven containers of whale meat from 13 finback whales to Dutch officials at the Port of Rotterdam enroute from Iceland to Japan.

A demonstration by Greenpeace protesters, which involved chaining themselves to the mooring ropes, induced the shipping line to surrender the cargo to Dutch officials.

Environmentalists say trading in whales is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), an agreement of which Netherlands has signed, but neither Japan nor Iceland have. While contracting states agree to the principles of CITES, the convention does not have the force of law and is not a binding treaty, according to the Wikipedia entry.

Despite vessel's papers approved by port custom officials the containers were removed from the ship.

(Source: www.schednet.com)