Each year, Sea Shepherd sends ships to Antarctica to try to stop the Japanese fleet killing whales under the guise of scientific research. The clash took place near Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica.
Paul Watson, who founded the organisation and is captain of the ship Steve Irwin, said: ‘The Japanese whalers have now escalated this conflict very violently. If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken.’
The Ady Gil was a new acquisition for Sea Shepherd in November last year. Previously named Earthrace, the US$1.5m catamaran holds the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe.
The Japanese fisheries agency said this was the fourth time this season that the activists had obstructed the whaler’s operations.
Obviously, there are a whole bunch of questions as how a boat as fast as the Ady Gil could be surprised — and not get the hell out of the way. But furthermore,the Japanese should be held accountable for ramming a much smaller vessel — and putting human lives in great danger in the process. This appears to have been a full-on collision — not some accidental sideswipe. They should be prepared for a great deal of international outrage with this one.
According to reports at abc.net.au, that was when Japanese whaling ship, Shonan Maru 2, just deliberately rammed into it. Spokesman Chris Aultman, who is a helicopter pilot for the group, says that no crew members were hurt in the incident but the boat is destroyed.
Lacky Maclean, who is the first mate of the Sea Shepherd’s ship, the Steve Irwin, said that the bow of Ady Gil was just cut off in the attack. A spokesman for Japan’s Fisheries Agency, which oversees Japan’s whaling program, says that it’s investigating the incident.
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