Peace Boat (Facebook/Peace Boat)
The ship
chartered by the Japan-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) Peace Boat has
started its 96th voyage. In almost three months, it will visit
eight Asian and Oceanian countries, namely Australia, Indonesia, New Caledonia,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Taiwan.
Peace
Boat works closely with the called International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a global civil society coalition of around 470 NGOs
from more than 100 countries. Launched in 2007, the ICAN received the Nobel Peace Prize
in 2017.
To start its 96th voyage, the ship left Yokohama,
Japan on January 8, 2018 and landed on Kobe, Japan on January 9, 20018. It will
arrive at Keelung, Taiwan in January 12, 2018 and at Cebu, Philippines on
January 15, 2018.
It will be the first time for the Peace Boat ship to visit
Indonesia. It will stay in Bali January 19-20, 2018 and in Fremantle, Australia
January 24-25, 2018.
In the last week of January 2018 and the first week of
February 2018, the ship will remain in Australia. It will visit Adelaide on
January 29, 2018, Melbourne on January 31, 2018, Hobart on February 2, 208 and
Sydney February 5-6, 2018.
Leaving Australia, the ship will go to Christchurch, New
Zealand on February 12, 2018, Auckland, New Zealand on February 15, 2018,
Noumea, New Caledonia on February 19, 2018, Honiara, Solomon Islands on
February 22, 2018 and on Rabaul, Papua New Guinea on February 24, 2018. It will
return to Yokohama on March 4, 2018 and to Kobe on March 5, 2018.
Among the
people on board the Peace Boat ship is the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers
Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) co-chair
Terumi Tanaka. This is his first time to join the tour.
“Grass-roots lobbying is an important activity,” Tanaka
told the Japan
Times. “I am looking
forward to meeting people from various towns in the countries we will visit.”
ICAN’s international steering committee member Akira
Kawasaki told the publication that it is necessary to work toward realizing the
goal of putting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons into effect.
Passed by 122 United Nations (UN) members on July 7, 2017, the treaty has yet
to be carried out.
Only the Netherlands voted against the treaty while
Singapore abstained. On the other hand, 69 countries did not vote.
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