Flavio.
World Cup final
and a visit to Takahama
01 July 2002
Watched a great World Cup last night. Almost the entire crew went down to a little restaurant - with a big TV and two elderly Japanese women who were nice enough to let us watch the game there even though they are usually closed on Sundays.
The game was fantastic. Right now, we have two Germans (Barbara and Lutz) and one Brazilian (Flavio) working on the ship. Most of the crew was routing for Brazil, and every time they got near the German goal we had to shout at Flavio to sit down because he would jump up to yell at the TV and wave his Brazilian flag.
The German team played an excellent game, and at first it looked like they were going to dominate. So when Brazil finally scored we were all on our feet yelling, Flavio went crazy and our hostesses couldn't stop laughing.
We returned to the ship happy not just because it was a good game but also because BNFL did not try to load or move the defective nuclear fuel during the World Cup, which would have added to the security risk. Instead, it's been reported in the press that they intend to load the ship later this week on July 4th.
A few of the crew went down to take a look at Takahama today. There they watched over twenty police and coast guard vessels, from small fast inflatables full of commandos to ships with mounted guns, practising escort manoeuvres. It's good to see that if the shipment is allowed to leave it will get heavy security in the harbour.
On the other hand, we do not know positively how the authorities will react to our presence, and from the personal accounts that I've read, Japanese jails are a bad place to end up. Of course, it's unlikely that there will be any real friction with the police or coast guard. We are being very open about our intent to peacefully protest this shipment if it is allowed to depart. Coast guard officials have even visited the Arctic Sunrise to have a look around.
On the whole, I think in this case we will all feel safer with a heavy security presence around the transport. Too bad it's only until it's away from Japan.
