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Premiere in the Arctic : whale meat goes through the North-East Passage

The Winter Bay belonging to a European ship owner just left the port of Tromsø in Norway. She is now sailing in the Barents Sea. She carries about 1800 tons of whale meat from Iceland. The Winter Bay is expected in Osaka, Japan, on August 28. The Arctic option, 14,500 km, allows the ship to avoid diplomatic complications, environmental NGO protests and the usual stops in West Africa and South Africa.

The North-East passage is completely free of ice between mid-August and late September. The North-East passage shortens the trip by half compared with the trajectory around the Cape of Good Hope. The Northern Sea Route is entirely controlled by the Russian administration and army.

Russia is unfortunately Iceland and Japan’s accomplice in the whale meat traffic. The European Union is also an accomplice since the Winter Bay was acquired last year by a Latvian shipowner. The European Directive on the conservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora stipulates that Member States should prohibit the transport of specimens of all cetacean species living or dead or of by-products.

Winter Bay, ex-Nordvaer, ex-Victoriahamn. IMO 8601680. Palletised cargo reefer. Length 79,90 m. St. Kitts and Nevis flag. Classification society Det Norske Veritas. Built in 1986 in Rissa (Norway) by Fosen MV. Sold in May 2014 by her Norwegian owner Nor Lines Rederi AS to British Virgin Islands-based Dalriada Tortola, a shell-company for the Latvian Aquaship Ltd. In the wake, she was deflagged from Faroe Islands to St. Kitts and Nevis.