WELLINGTON - THE search for a Japanese whaler who fell overboard in freezing waters south of New Zealand has been called off, with the man now presumed dead, a New Zealand rescue official said on Tuesday.

Hajime Shirasaki, a 30-year-old engine room oiler, was reported missing from the Kyoshin Maru No 2 early Monday morning, and is believed to have been washed overboard in seas with four metre swells.

'We've suspended the search, we're not going to be involved any further,' said Sophie Hazelhurst, a spokeswoman for the Maritime New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre.

An alert was issued to ships in the area when Mr Shirasaki was reported missing, but as survival time in the zero-degree water would be a maximum of one hour, it was too late to dispatch a rescue aircraft, said the centre. An aircraft would have taken about 10 hours to reach the site.

Japanese whaling ships were still looking for the sailor, despite the official search being called off, a whaling spokesman said.

Japan's whaling fleet is in the Antarctic for an annual hunt. Despite an international ban on whaling, Japan justifies the hunt by saying it is for 'scientific' purposes.

Much of the meat ends up on supermarket shelves.

Japan's whaling operations have met with opposition from environmental groups and the governments of New Zealand and Australia.

Hardline anti-whalers chasing the Japanese whaling fleet off Antarctica in December threw 'stink' bombs and dye at one of the vessels. The two vessels collided during the incident, but both sustained only minor damage.

The Sea Shepherd environmental group on Sunday temporarily abandoned its pursuit of Japan's whaling fleet while its ship returns to port to refuel. -- REUTERS