Volume 3, issue #1 - 07-01-1998

Nov. 18, 1997 The Japanese Maritime Safety Agency (MSA) has released an annual report calling for more efficient steps in handling oil spills from tankers, including closer co-operation with neighbouring countries and conducting of oil-clearing drills.
The report said the series of oil spills this year, including the Russian tanker Nakhodka in the Sea of Japan and the Panamanian-registered, Japanese-owned tanker Diamond Grace in Tokyo Bay, has shown that Japan must boost prevention measures and act more efficiently in the aftermath of such accidents.
It reviewed the steps taken by the agency and the government following the spillage of the Nakhodka along the Sea of Japan coast in January, and noted that the government was slow to set up an emergency task force.
The insufficient response resulted from Japan's failure to consider in its emergency measures that oil accidents could occur on the open seas, it said.
Inadequate manuals for carrying out oil-cleaning operations and a shortage of related equipment were also cited as shortcomings in dealing with the oil spills.
The report said Japan needs to strengthen its system for gathering information, increase co-operation with neighbouring countries, equip patrol ships with oil-cleaning functions for the open seas, and conduct oil cleaning simulation drills.
Touching on the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the report said MSA ships are patrolling the area on a permanent basis.
It noted that since July last year, groups from Hong Kong and Taiwan have increased protest activities against Japanese claims to the islands known as the Diaoyus in China and Tiaoyutai in Taiwan, respectively.
A protest group of Hong Kong and Taiwan activists landed on the islands in October last year, while a flotilla of about 30 vessels carrying such activists approached the islands in May this year.