Famed Catamaran is sinking in the Southern Ocean
Six crewmembers Rescued by the Sea Shepherd Ship Bob Barker
In an unprovoked attack captured on film, the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No. 2 deliberately rammed and caused catastrophic damage to the Sea Shepherd catamaran Ady Gil.
Six crew crewmembers, five from New Zealand and one from the Netherlands were immediately rescued by the crew of the Sea Shepherd ship Bob Barker. None of the crew Ady Gil crew were injured.
The Ady Gil is believed to be sinking and chances of salvage are very grim.
According to eyewitness Captain Chuck Swift on the Bob Barker, the attack happened while the vessels were dead in the water. The Shonan Maru No. 2 suddenly started up and deliberately rammed the Ady Gil ripping eight feet of the bow of the vessel completely off. According to Captain Swift, the vessel does not look like it will be saved.
“The Japanese whalers have now escalated this conflict very violently,” said Captain Paul Watson. “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. We now have a real whale war on our hands now and we have no intention of retreating.”
Captain Paul Watson onboard the Steve Irwin is racing towards the area at 16 knots but still remains some five hundred miles to the north. The Bob Barker has temporarily stopped the pursuit of the Nisshin Maru to rescue the crew of the Ady Gil. The Japanese ships refused to acknowledge the May Day distress of the Ady Gil and used the incident to break away from the scene of the ramming.
The incident took place at 64 Degrees and 03 Minutes South and 143 Degrees and 09 Minutes East
Until this morning the Japanese were completely unaware of the existence of the Bob Barker. This newest addition to the Sea Shepherd fleet left Mauritius off the coast of Africa on December 18th and was able to advance along the ice edge from the West as the Japanese were busy worrying about the advance of the Steve Irwin from the North.
“This is a substantial loss for our organization,” said Captain Watson. “The Ady Gil, the former Earthrace, represents a loss of almost two million dollars. However the loss of a single whale is of more importance to us and we will not lose the Ady Gil in vain. This blow simply strengthens our resolve, it does not weaken our spirit.”
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is requesting that the Australian government send a naval vessel to restore the peace in the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territory. We have 77 crew from 16 nations on three vessels, six of them were on the Ady Gil. Of these, 21 are Australian citizens: 16 Australians on the Steve Irwin and five on the Bob Barker. Sea Shepherd believes that the Australian government has a responsibility to protect the lives of Australian citizens working to defend whales from illegal Japanese whaling activities.
“Australia needs to send a naval vessel down here as soon as possible to protect both the whales and the Australian citizens working to defend these whales,” said Steve Irwin Chief Cook Laura Dakin of Canberra. “This is Australian Antarctic Territorial waters and I see the Japanese whalers doing whatever they want with impunity down here without a single Australian government vessel anywhere to be found. Peter Garrett, I have one question for you: Where the bloody hell are you?”
Source: Sea Shepherd: http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-100105-4.html
As a Kiwi, I am outraged. The Japanese sink a New Zealand boat and claim they were attacked. Care to compare the size of the damn boats, Yakuza?
ReplyDeleteCowards. This is a war that is only just beginning.
This was attempted murder. Watch the video, the poacher ship smashes the Ady Gil completely under water.
ReplyDeleteShame on our Australian Government who were all talk before the election of how they were going put a stop to whaling by the Japanese but when it came to the crunch they did hardly anything. And now its back to diplomatic talks.
ReplyDeleteWhat it boils down to is the fear of losing commercial trading with Japan. Whales are obviously not worth standing up for or going to war for. If there is anything worth fighting for its the innocent, defenseless and voiceless animals of our planet who are suffering at the hands of man.
If it wasn't for Paul Watson and the Sea Shepard Crew the whales would have no chance. They are the super heroes of our world.
We need more people like Paul Watson and his crew who stand up for what is right, to lift our spirits, to give us hope that we are still human that humanity is not lost and that we have a chance to be who we are meant to be, compassionate, benevolent, humane, caring, with morals and ethics.
If the Australian government was down there supporting Paul Watson it would have made the majority of Australians so proud.
Well said, Eleni. I agree.
ReplyDeleteNico
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ReplyDeletesea shepherd, buy a submarine, we will donate for it ... and for the torpedoes also ...
ReplyDeleteRegardless of your opinion on the motives and behavior of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Agency, the issue here is whaling not harassment. The Japanese Fisheries Agency claims that these whale hunts are in the name of research, but that is a lie and the world knows it; and what is more, they know it. The truth is that the meat from the thousands of whales that are slaughtered each year in the name of research ends up in the fish markets of Japan. Quite apart from the danger this presents to the Japanese people due to the potentially deadly levels of mercury in the meat, there is another reason to stop this killing, which is that it is wrong. Unlike cattle or chickens, for all practical purposes whales are not a renewable resource, once they are gone from the oceans we will never see their kind again. In the name of all that is good and decent, the people of Japan must demand that their government stops the whaling. Now is the time, humanity is the reason, and they are the only people on this planet who can put an end to this brutal and archaic practice forever. Please read my blog
ReplyDeletehttp://whaleanddolphintalk.blogspot.com/
of course, this is horrible. but the upside is that it has brought tons of attention to sea shepherd. i'm totally financially tapped out, but i'm about to donate to this org for the first time because i'm so outraged.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hart. This has gone too far,and the war is far from over,go SSCS!!
ReplyDeleteFYI:
ReplyDeleteA Catamaran has two hulls. A vessel with three hulls is called a TRIMARAN, not a Catamaran.