Ady Gil Captain boards Whaling Ship to make citizen's arrest

In the cover of darkness Peter Bethune left the Sea Shepherd flagship, the Steve Irwin on a jet ski with another Sea Shepherd volunteer. About 6.30 am he clambered aboard the vessel that had destroyed his own ship, getting around the anti-boarding spikes and nets.

As the Captain of the Ady Gil, Peter Bethune has an invoice for $3million which he will present to the skipper of the Shonan Maru 2.


In a covering letter Bethune states: "I am here to arrest you. I am requesting that you transfer now to the Steve Irwin, where we will take you into custody, and we will deliver you to the Maritime Safety Authority and the New Zealand Police once we reach Wellington (New Zealand)."

"If you refuse to be arrested, then I am requesting that you deliver me to Wellington (New Zealand). Having sunk my vessel, and with our issuing of a mayday call, you have an obligation under maritime law to provide me with safe passage back to land."

"I will refuse to be handed over to any Sea Shepherd vessel. I will also refuse to be handed over to any New Zealand or Australian Coastguard, Customs or Naval vessel. I will only leave the Shonan Maru when you transfer with me to the Steve Irwin, or when we arrive on land, be it New Zealand or Australia."

"I am enclosing an invoice for US$3m, representing the new replacement cost of the Ady Gil. You are responsible for the collision and as such, you are also responsible for paying for its replacement."

"I commit to you that while I am on your vessel, that I will not impede or disrupt your crew and their activities."

The invoice, dated 14 February 2010, says "If payment is not forthcoming within four weeks of receiving this document, we will be proceeding with criminal charges in Japan against your company. We will be seeking punitive damages, in addition to the full replacement cost of the Ady Gil. Further to this, we will be laying criminal charges against the Captain of the Shonan Maru #2."

Peter Bethune concludes his open letter with a plea : "I am just an ordinary man with a wife and two kids, who is prepared to make a stand against something that I believe is wrong. That is why I came to Antarctica to try and stop you, and that is why I am here on your vessel today."

According to Captain Paul Watson "Captain Bethune boarded a Japanese whaling fleet security ship at high speed in total darkness, breached the spikes and anti-boarding nets and is presently onboard and the Japanese crew are still not aware that he is there. He is there to demand justice for the sinking of his ship," he said.

"The first attempt he actually fell in the water and the jet ski went back and retrieved him. (The crew) still didn't notice," Captain Watson told AAP. "It was extremely dangerous. He was boarding a ship going at 15 knots in total darkness in Southern Ocean waters, which are extremely frigid."

At dawn Peter Bethune knocked on the door of the wheel house and presented his letters of demand for the skipper to surrender. According to Captain Watson, a Japanese crew member emerged and looked for the boat on which Captain Bethune had arrived. The crew member then went back inside, leaving Captain Bethune standing there.

"Pete opened the door and walked into the wheelhouse ... that's the last we've heard of him," Captain Watson said in the AAP report.