The "Esperanza" was due to dock in the bay as part of the environmental group's anti-whaling campaign, but it was effectively banned when the agent handling her arrival pulled out.

The Dutch-flagged ship was drifting without using fuel near Oshima island outside of Tokyo Bay, and Dutch diplomats were working to find a place for the ship to go, Greenpeace said.

"I think it's very much a case of using politics to shut down freedom of speech," Greenpeace spokeswoman Sara Holden said by satellite phone from aboard the vessel.

"We made it very clear that we wanted to come and have a dialogue with the government, whaling authorities and people of Japan," she said. "We have food and water so we're not planning on going anywhere in a hurry."

Tokyo, one of the world's busiest ports, requires ships to submit applications ahead of arrival.

Murayama Shoten and Co., which had been Greenpeace's agent, said it decided Tuesday no longer to assist the ship's entry after a visit by representatives of the sailors union.

"It was our president's decision to suspend all work related to the 'Esperanza' after union officials visited us with their letters of protest," said Masae Nagayasu from Murayama Shoten, saying the company feared "turmoil" between union members and Greenpeace.

The All Japan Seamen's Union, in line with the government's position, branded Greenpeace a "terrorist" group.

Japan each year enrages environmentalists by sending a fleet to the Antarctic Ocean to hunt whales, using a loophole in a global ban on whaling that allows killing the giant mammals for scientific research.

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

But Japan this year was forced to cut short its expedition, killing just over half of its intended catch, after a fire on the mother ship left a crew member dead.

The radical Sea Shepherd environmental group had clashed with the whalers, at one point tossing acid onto the deck of a ship.

Greenpeace condemned Sea Shepherd's activities and offered to help the stricken whaling boat, the Nisshin Maru.

"We won't comment on this port call issue because we don't want to give a helping hand to a terrorist organisation's promotional activities," said Gabriel Gomez, spokesman for the government-backed Institute of Cetacean Research, operator of Japan's "research whaling."

"Although they insist they escorted the Nisshin Maru, the truth is that they are taking advantage of the incident which killed a crew member. We were never helped by them. They have attacked our whaling ships many times," he said.

Greenpeace called the allegations a smear campaign and said Japan had acknowledged during international conferences that it saw a difference between the group and more militant organisations.

"We feel very strongly that people don't have proper information," said Holden, the Greenpeace spokeswoman.

She said the overwhelming majority of Japanese did not know the extent of the country's whaling and were opposed to it once they found out.

"We made it very clear when the ship was in trouble that we wanted to start a dialogue, so I question what it is they have to hide," Holden said.

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