The Dutch-flagged "Esperanza," on a mission to raise sympathy in Japan for whales, was drifting for the second day at the mouth of Tokyo Bay after the sailors' union effectively banned its arrival.

Japan has denounced environmentalists as "terrorists" for tailing Tokyo's fleet which each year heads to the Antarctic to kill hundreds of whales.

"It just hurts me when they called me a terrorist. It's simply not fair," Frank Camp, captain of the Esperanza, told a news conference in Tokyo.

Camp flew to Tokyo ahead of his vessel, which is carrying 23 crew members who had hoped to hold discussions in Japan on whaling.

"This goes beyond the whale issue but to a more important problem of freedom of expression or civic demonstration in Japan," said Jun Hoshikawa, head of Greenpeace Japan.

Whaling officials "label us as 'terrorists' as a means to silence us and not make known their activities to the public," he added.

Greenpeace said the vast majority of Japanese did not know the extent of Japan's whaling, which kills around 1,000 of the giant mammals a year worldwide.

"If there is nothing to hide then there is no reason not to let us in," said Karli Thomas, the expedition leader.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a militant splinter group of Greenpeace, earlier this year threw acid on the whalers' mother ship, the Nisshin Maru. Japan said two sailors were injured.

Greenpeace has condemned the approach of the Sea Shepherd and denied any collaboration with the group.

Citing the protests, Japan's sailors' union blocked the Greenpeace ship from arriving in Tokyo by pressuring its agent, which handles the paperwork required to dock at the busy port, to back out.

"The crew on the Nisshin Maru are our members. Every time we've sailed out to do research Greenpeace has repeatedly caused accidents," said Seizo Hondo, head of fisheries division at the All Japan Seamen's Union.

"There is no way we can welcome their entry. They have their claims, we have ours -- we can't and won't have a conversation with them," he added.

Japan hunts whales using a loophole in a global ban on whaling that allows killing the animals for scientific research.

Japan says whale meat is part of its culture and is lobbying for an outright resumption of commercial whaling.

But Japan suffered a humiliation this year when a fire broke out on the Nisshin Maru, leaving a crew member dead and forcing it to cut short the expedition after killing just over half the intended catch.

Both sides said the fire was unlikely to be linked to environmentalists' protests. Greenpeace said the Esperanza assisted the stricken ship as a goodwill gesture, but Japan denies accepting any help.

The Dutch embassy in Tokyo said it was providing consular support to Greenpeace to resolve the standoff over the Dutch-flagged Esperanza.

Greenpeace said it was prepared to hold out on the boat and planned to talk to Japanese officials.

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