Sea Shepherd threatens to Ram and Disable Pirate Whalers : Indybay

"What part of the word ‘sanctuary’ do the whalers not understand?" said Captain Paul Watson from onboard the Sea Shepherd ship Farley Mowat. "The whalers have assaulted whale defenders with water cannons and wooden poles. The whalers have rammed two Greenpeace ships [1,2] and attempted to ram the Farley Mowat. With every attack the whalers plead innocence. The whalers are far from innocent. They are criminals involved in a criminal operation and they must be stopped."

"I am tired of politicians being apologists for these criminals," said Captain Watson. "We sideswiped the whaling supply ship Oriental Bluebird yesterday and we intend to disable any pirate whaling vessel we find. We intend to uphold the laws protecting whales. This nonsense must be ended."

Japanese Whaling Supply ship sideswiped and chased by Sea Shepherd

At 0030 Hours GMT on Jan. 9, 2006, Captain Paul Watson ordered the Japanese-owned Panamanian ship Oriental Bluebird to leave the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. When they refused to comply, the Farley Mowat slammed their starboard hull against the starboard hull of the Oriental Bluebird. The supply ship appeared to be waiting to rendez vous with the Japanese whaling factory ship, Nisshin Maru, possibly to transfer further whale meat for transport back to restaurant tables in Japan. After the collision, the Farley Mowat pursued the supply ship out of the whale sanctuary.

Farley Mowat First Officer Alex Cornelissen reported. "We are not down here to protest whaling. We are here to uphold international conservation law. This ship is assisting an illegal operation and thus has no business in the whale sanctuary."

"We hit her," said Captain Watson. "We hit her because she is a whale meat smuggler illegally loading contraband whale meat in the Whale Sanctuary. We acted in accordance with the World Charter for Nature to uphold international conservation laws protecting the whales. This ship has no business down here. We believe our actions this morning disrupted the plans by the Nisshin Maru to transfer their cargo. We have no apologies."

In reply to accusations and criticisms that Sea Shepherd is violating the rules of the road, Captain Watson said, "they are not really rules so much as guidelines and I believe that the violation of international law and the killing of the whales provides for special circumstances for these rules to be secondary to our objective of shutting down these pirates. Besides, the Japanese have been in clear violation of these rules of the road and no one seems to be overly concerned with their behaviour. These ruthless, murdering, cowards must be stopped and it is a disgrace that non-governmental organizations have to come down to these waters to do the work of governments."

The "can opener" was installed on the Farley Mowat initially to stop damage from whaling ships ramming them. "The Oriental Bluebird and Nisshin Maru are such big ships that the chances of us hitting them and causing them any significant damage are pretty remote." said Watson.

Japan considers use of Maritime Police

Japan is considering sending police aircraft to the Antarctic to defend its whaling fleet, but would require cooperation for refueling from Australia.

"If Greenpeace action becomes more aggressive, the Fisheries Agency may ask the Maritime Police Agency to dispatch aircraft," the deputy director of the Far Seas Fisheries Division of Japan's Fisheries Agency, Mr Hideki Moronuki told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Or the agency may ask the Government of Australia to take action to normalise the situation."

Paul Watson's response from the Farley Mowat was "What do they intend to do? Take pictures or strafe us, parachute onto our decks and arrest us? I hate to quote George W. Bush but hey, ‘bring ‘em on."

Such a request would place the Australian Government in a real bind, as the official policy is one of opposition to whaling. Environment Minister Ian Campbell would not comment on the Japanese plan other than to say the Government did not "deal with hypotheticals".

New Zealand and Australian Government criticized for allowing Whaling

New Zealand Conservation Minister Chris Carter criticised Sea Shepherd as irresponsible for using tactics such as running into whaling ships with a "can opener" device. "The increasing anxiety that the Japanese are showing is partly a response to the very irresponsible behaviour by Paul Watson from the Sea Shepherd group,"

Captain Paul Watson said the criticism was unfounded and defended the Sea Shepherd actions: "If the Australian government and the New Zealand government were acting responsibly then we wouldn't be down here," he said via satellite phone from the Farley Mowat in the Southern Ocean. "The fact is the Japanese whaling fleet is in blatant violation of international law and nobody is doing anything about it. We're not here to protest; we're down here to uphold international conservation law and to chase these guys out of here and it's working."

"If the New Zealand government is concerned about it, then hey, send a navy vessel down here and check it out. Keep an eye on things and act responsibly." Peviously Paul Watson and the Australian Greens have requested Australia send a naval vessel for surveillance and observation of any conflict. The use of an Australian navy vessel has been rejected by Australian Defence Minister, Robert Hill, and Environment Minister, Ian Campbell.

The New Zealand Greens have also called on the New Zealand Government to send a frigate to observe any conflict. Greens leader Jeanette Fitzsimons said "We're not asking the frigate to engage in armed conflict or open fire on any of the ships," she said. "We are simply saying we want it to sit there, watch and use the moral influence of its presence as we did in Mururoa." The New Zealand Government send navy frigates to protest nuclear testing by France at Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia in 1973.

Paul Watson said the Australian and New Zealand governments were "contemptible" in allowing the whaling to continue. "I think they're kissing the rear ends of Japan, is what I think. If these were Indonesian fishermen, Australia would be very aggressive about it. There's no difference between illegal poaching by Indonesia and poaching by Japan."

New Zealand Environment Minister said in a statement "Protest action taking currently place in the Southern Ocean against the Japanese whaling fleet reflects the strong feelings many New Zealanders share. I urge restraint by all parties in what is one of the most dangerous and remote environments on the planet."

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