Sailor missing from Japanese whaling vessel
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A search is underway in the Southern Ocean after a sailor was reported missing from a Japanese whaling vessel.
30-year-old engine room operator, Hajime Shirasaki was reported missing when he did not turn up for his shift yesterday morning.
The spokesman for the ship's operators, Glen Inwood, says other Japanese whaling ships in the area and crews from the New Zealand coast guard are on their way to assist the search.
Mr Inwood says it looks likely that Mr Shirasaki has fallen overboard.
"There has been a thorough on-board search of the Kyoshin Maru Number Two and when no sign of him was found the sea search intensified," he said.
Japan maintains its whaling activities in the Southern Ocean are part of a research program.