Oriental Bluebird

History
Japan
Name:	Hiyo Maru
Owner:	Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd[1]
Operator:	Institute of Cetacean Research[1]
Port of registry:	Japan[1]
Launched:	1979[1]
Renamed:	"Hiyo Maru" after dispute with Panamanian Gov't.
Fate:	Sold for scrap in 2010 [2][3]
General characteristics
Type:	Products tanker (single hulled)[1]
Tonnage:	8,725 GT[1]
Length:	143.29 m (470 ft 1 in) o/a[1]
Beam:	20.41 m (67 ft 0 in) (moulded)[1]
Draft:	8.42 m (27 ft 7 in)[1]

The 8,725 ton Hiyo Maru (飛鷹丸) was the largest member of the Japanese whaling fleet; providing fuel, resources, and stock storage space for that fleet and its crew. In 1992, it was renamed and re-flagged to Panama as the Oriental Bluebird. According to Greenpeace, after a dispute with the Panamanian Government in 2008, it was de-flagged and re-registered to Japan.^[4] The Hiyo Maru served as the fuel tanker for Japan's whaling fleet,^[5] and was alleged by Greenpeace to also transport whale meat.^[6] In August 2010, the ship was sold to China to be scrapped.

References

1. Lloyd's Register - Fairplay, access date 20 February 2007
2. http://merseyshipping.blogspot.com/2010/10/scrappings-from-22nd-october-to-26th.html
3. http://www.robindesbois.org/english/shipbreaking21.pdf
4. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/season-may-be-ended-for-damage
5. "Battleships in the whaling war". The New Zealand Herald. 25 December 2005. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
6. Greenpeace weblog, eyewitness account, published 9 January 2006