(Adds Greenpeace, NZ govt comment, paragraphs 10-13) By Rob Taylor CANBERRA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A Japanese whaling ship is on fire and one crew member is missing off the coast of Antarctica after a blaze broke out below decks, New Zealand maritime authorities said on Thursday. The fire broke out at about 1600 GMT (5 a.m. New Zealand time) on the black-hulled Nisshin Maru, the 8,000 tonne flagship of the Japan whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean. "Three other whaling ships have come to their assistance and taken 126 crew off, while 20 remain on the ship fighting the fire and one is unaccounted for at this stage," Maritime New Zealand spokesman Steve Corbett said. The blaze, Corbett said, had nothing to do with environmental activists who had been harassing the fleet for the past two days, at one stage colliding their boat with another Japanese vessel. He said the cause of the fire was unknown. Sea conditions in the area had been calm with no wind. No assistance had been requested or sent to the area -- 265 nautical miles north of the U.S. McMurdo Base in Antarctica and near the so-called Bay of Whales -- by New Zealand's government. "The master advises he has the situation under control," Corbett said. In addition to five Japanese whaling boats, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Sea was based in the area, while the icebreaking research ship Nathaniel B. Palmer was also nearby. Environmental group Greenpeace, which has a ship the Esperenza in the Ross Sea area about 700 km (435 miles) from the stricken vessel, said the burning ship posed a danger to Antarctic wildlife. "Of course our first concern is for the crew. But it is a very special environment and ... I think everybody knows it's one of the last near-pristine environments," the group's John Bowler said. "Any fire can cause serious damage, depending on what happens, leaks from the fuel or just as a result of the fire fighting equipment." Those concerns were echoed by New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter, who said his government was drawing up contingency plans in the event of an oil spill. "I wish the Japanese crew fighting the fire on the Nisshin Maru every good fortune. Their efforts will be crucial to averting further catastrophe," Carter said in a statement.
