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pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers (Read 23228 times)
freediver
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pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Jan 7th, 2010 at 10:10pm
 
They said on the news that both boats were 'equally' responsible, but I don't see how the Japanese whalers can be held responsible. First up, the boat they hit was a pirate boat. Obviously safety goes out the window when pirates are trying to attack you. Second, they say the whaling boat should have stopped sooner, but then what should it have done? Usually the idea is to stop until the danger passes, but the other boat was not going to pass, it was going to stay there and keep getting in it's way. While it is reasonable to demand that a boat stop in such a dangerous situation, it is not reasonable to expect them to stop forever and starve to death because a pirate boat won't get out of the way. The anti-whaling pirates were fully responsible because they went out of their way to deliberately create a dangerous situation. The whaling boat on the other hand would have been more than happy to keep a safe distance and went to great effort in attempting to do so, short of never going anywhere.

Renewed call to block anti-whaling ship in NZ

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/1392951

A collision between a Japanese whaler and an anti-whaling protest ship in frigid Antarctic waters has sparked renewed calls for the New Zealand and Australian governments to block the Steve Irwin from refuelling in the two countries.

The Sea Shepherd conservation group ship Steve Irwin was trying to prevent the transfer of a dead whale up the slipway of the factory ship Nisshin Maru this morning, when the Japanese harpoon vessel tried
to block it, making the collision unavoidable, said Steve Irwin Captain Paul Watson.

No one was injured in the collision, which caused minor damage to the stern of the Japanese ship, the hardline anti-whaling group said.

But Japanese authorities said it was an "act of violence and unforgivable".

"It could have been much worse - people could have been killed," New Zealand based spokesman for the Institute of Cetacean Research Glen Inwood said.

Japan repeated a call for the two governments to show responsibility for safety at sea and block the Dutch ship from ports in Australasia, he said.

Mr Inwood said the Steven Irwin would run out of fuel shortly and have to head back to either New Zealand or Australia to restock, while the six Japanese vessels had enough supplies to spend another six weeks at sea.

The Netherlands government should also order the Dutch-flagged Steve Irwin to stop its criminal activities interfering with legal whaling operations, Mr Inwood said.

The annual Japanese whale hunt is aimed at catching about 900 whales.

Although Japan officially stopped whaling under a 1986 global moratorium, it continues to take hundreds of whales under a loophole allowing whaling for research purposes.

Much of the meat ends up on supermarket shelves and dinner tables.

Mr Inwood said the Japanese had not yet released figures on how many whales had been killed in this season's whaling mission, or how many whales the Steve Irwin might have saved from their "lethal research".

After the ramming, crew from the Steve Irwin threw bottles containing butyric acid (produced by rancid butter) at the Yushin Maru No. 2 and the Nisshin Maru.

Most of the bottles just ended up in the Antarctic waters, according to the whalers.

The crew aboard the Steve Irwin had also attempted to entangle the propellers of Japanese vessels, which could potentially pull the propeller shaft out and sink the ship.

Capt Watson said the Japanese responded by blasting his crew with a water cannon, hunks of metal and a "military grade" noise weapon that can cause deafness and vomiting.

The protesters set off from Australia in early December for the remote and icy Antarctic Ocean, chasing the whaling fleet before stopping two weeks ago in Tasmania to refuel.

The group found the whalers again on Sunday and resumed their pursuit.
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #1 - Jan 25th, 2010 at 4:01pm
 
Oh yes, the Sea Shepard Organization's extremist nature is one of the main reasons Greenpeace disowned them as an affiliate organization. The real shame is not that shortly after this incident they demanded the Australian Government step in and help them to do something about this, but the fact that one (if not more) of their sister organizations such "Wild-life Warriors" collect donations from australians under the guise of environmental protection, only to fund these sorts of activities that, if gone unchecked, could potentially leave Australia embroiled in a war with Japan...
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #2 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 9:10am
 
Excellent.

Sooner or later one of these retards is going to get themselves killed. Our government needs to restore law and order on the high seas, for their own protection.

Ady Gil sinks after whaling skirmish

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/08/2787921.htm

...

The Sea Shepherd's anti-whaling speedboat Ady Gill has sunk after it was sliced in two by a Japanese whaling vessel during a clash in the Southern Ocean on Wednesday.

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson told ABC News Breakfast the Ady Gill went down shortly before 3:30am AEDT while it was being towed to a French research base by the group's Bob Barker boat.

"I think they were towing for about six or seven hours," he said.

"Even the act of towing was taking more water on. The Japanese vessel had cut the vessel completely in half and made it unseaworthy."

Six Sea Shepherd crew members were almost thrown overboard and one crew member suffered broken ribs when the Japanese whaling security ship, the Shonan Maru 2, ploughed through the bow of the high-tech Ady Gill on Wednesday.

Both the Japanese whalers and the Sea Shepherd crew blame each other for the incident, which happened in Antarctic waters.

But Mr Watson has defended his crew and says the risk of dying on the high seas is worth it if it allows the group to save whales.

"My crew are well aware of the risks that we have to take to protect whales down here. I think those risks are worth taking," he said.

"I can tell you now that if the oceans die, civilisations collapse and we all die.

"People die everyday to protect oil wells and real estate and we call them heroes and pin medals on them. I think protecting the diversity of oceans... is a far more noble cause."

'Harassment and attack'

But Glenn Inwood from Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research says Mr Watson has a dangerous attitude.

"Paul Watson has said before that he's willing to give any Japanese vessel what he calls a steel enema by ramming his ship into the stern of any Japanese vessel," Mr Inwood said.

"He also proudly displays the number of vessels he's sunk on the side of the Steve Irwin.

"You can understand why the Japanese have put security vessels down there.

"To say Japan has broken maritime laws can't be justified in this instance when you're under constant harassment and constant attack from these ships."

Mr Inwood says Japan's whaling program is internationally recognised as legal.

"The International Whaling Commission (IWC) have sanctioned it. The New Zealand government recognises its legality, and many members of the IWC do as well," he said.

"Sea Shepherd is trying to prevent Japan from conducting what is a legal operation under the rules of the IWC."

Yesterday Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard asked the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to investigate the incident and said the findings would be made public.

She says the Government reserves the right to take international legal action if diplomacy with Japanese officials fails, and has warned that evidence has already been collected to launch such action.

New Zealand is also investigating the incident because the Ady Gil was registered there.

'An act of war'

Mr Watson says an insurance payout on the Ady Gill is unlikely because the incident was a deliberate act.

"It's a $1.5 million loss for our organisation," he said.

"I think the Japanese deliberately took that vessel out; they saw it as a threat and they were under orders to take it out.

"It would be an act of war so there wouldn't be any insurance on it."

Mr Watson says two Japanese harpoon ships were nearby but did not offer any help after the incident.

"They were responsible, they destroyed the vessel ... I think they should have offered some sort of assistance but they refused to acknowledge any distress signal," he said.

Mr Watson says they were able to remove all the fuel from the speedboat to prevent any pollution.

Mr Watson is urging the Federal Government to take a tougher action against Japanese whalers.

"In the six years that we've been doing this, we've never caused an injury to anyone, we've never broken a law... and now they have sunk one of our vessels," he said.

"[Federal Environment Minister] Peter Garrett has become the master of restraint. He made a campaign promise to end whaling; now let's see him [do something]."

Mr Watson says the Government should send a boat to Antarctic waters, where the Sea Shepherd's other boats - the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker - are continuing to pursue Japanese whalers.

Mr Watson says the boats are chasing the Japanese fleet and the whalers have not killed a whale in two days.

Diplomatic approach

Meanwhile, New Zealand officials have met with representatives from the Japanese embassy in Wellington to discuss the situation.

The ABC understands that at the Wellington meeting, Japan said it regarded the incident as "regrettable" but a "low-key event".

This morning a spokesman for the New Zealand Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, said contrary to media reports, Japan had not lodged a stern complaint with the New Zealand Government.

He said Japanese officials agreed with New Zealand that their citizens needed to have better regard for people on the high seas.

The spokesman said legal action over the collision had not been discussed, because it still had not been established who was at fault.

Maritime New Zealand has launched an investigation
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #3 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 9:13am
 
Ady Gil promises to rebuild Sea Shepherd's boat

http://www.news.com.au/national/ady-gil-promises-to-rebuild-sea-shepherds-boat/story-e6frfkvr-1225817540187

...

SEA Shepherd has vowed to build a new Ady Gil by December after the wrecked protest boat sank off Antarctica.

And California animal lover Ady Gil, after whom it was named, told the Herald Sun he'd raise the money to pay for the rebuilding.

Mr Gil said he was saddened by the loss of the sleek trimaran, holed in a collision with a Japanese whaler.

"My little boat was just sitting there," he said from the US.

"It wasn't a collision - it was like running a cement truck into a motorcycle that was parked."

The Australian Government yesterday urged Japan to conduct its own investigation into the collision between the Ady Gil and the Shonan Maru No. 2.

Japan's Government said it was conducting "appropriate inquiries" to discover how the collision occurred, but accused Sea Shepherd protesters of deliberately risking lives.

"The repeated and reckless disruptive actions by the Sea Shepherd against Japanese vessels are totally inexcusable, as they place the lives of crew in extreme danger," Japan's ambassador to Australia, Taka-aki Kojima, said.

The Ady Gil sank about 4am on Friday when it filled with water during a salvage attempt.

Sea Shepherd spokesman Captain Paul Watson said a new version of the high-speed protest boat would be on the water within the year.

"We have the designs, we have the mould, and Peter Bethune, who designed and built the boat, is quite prepared to rebuild it," he said.

Capt Watson accused the whalers of intentionally ramming the boat because of its ability to get between their harpoons and the whales.

"I think the Japanese saw the potential of the vessel and deliberately took it out," he said.

Greens senator Bob Brown yesterday mailed a $2 million bill for the vessel to the Japanese ambassador.



Email from my friend Bob Brown:

Dear Friend

I wasn't expecting to write to you again so soon, but this week Sea Shepherd Captain Pete Bethune was detained on board the whaling ship Shonan Maru 2, as conflict over whaling intensified.

The courageous Captain Bethune boarded the vessel in an attempt to complete a citizen’s arrest of its captain and present a $3 million bill for the sinking of the Sea Shepherd boat the Ady Gil.

Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada will visit Australia this very weekend, however, neither he nor the Rudd government have responded to my request for a meeting or calls to ensure Captain Bethune is brought safely back to Australia or New Zealand.

That’s why I am writing to you again. The Greens have introduced a bill to ban any activities associated with whaling in Australia, following earlier news that the Japanese whaling fleet hired Australian planes from Hobart and Albany to track the Sea Shepherd's movements.

Please add your name today to help stop Australian assistance of any kind to whaling.

The Greens will again promote our Private Member’s Bill to ban such aid in Parliament next week and your action will help us secure support.

Best wishes

Bob

P.S. If you live in Canberra or close to it, come to a protest at the Japanese Embassy , 112 Empire Circuit, Yarralumla at 11am this Saturday February 20, to hear speakers from the Greens and Sea Shepherd and make sure Mr Okada knows that the vast majority of Australians oppose whaling in Antarctic waters.
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #4 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 9:56am
 
Quote:
P.S. If you live in Canberra or close to it, come to a protest at the Japanese Embassy , 112 Empire Circuit, Yarralumla at 11am this Saturday February 20, to hear speakers from the Greens and Sea Shepherd and make sure Mr Okada knows that the vast majority of Australians oppose whaling in Antarctic waters.


Even if that is so, does that mean that most Australians approve of the disgusting tactics employed by your organization?

Well.. I hope not.
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #5 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 2:34pm
 
freediver wrote on Feb 20th, 2010 at 9:13am:
my friend Bob Brown



Say no more.

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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #6 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 2:40pm
 
Yes Soren, I know you like to build your entire view of someone from as few words as possible. I suppose it saves you having to think.
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #7 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 2:41pm
 
freediver wrote on Feb 20th, 2010 at 2:40pm:
Yes Soren, I know you like to build your entire view of someone from as few words as possible. I suppose it saves you having to think.



The other way around: having thought, I can put it simply.

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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #8 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 2:48pm
 
I think Soren has a point. Politicans should not be trusted or encouraged...

As for Sea shepard and the whalers... They know the stakes of their little war, and should not drag others into it.
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #9 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 2:54pm
 
The whalers are not exactly a willing participant.
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #10 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 3:01pm
 
freediver wrote on Feb 20th, 2010 at 2:54pm:
The whalers are not exactly a willing participant.


Stepping onto a boat is a choice, whether you've been told the full story or not...
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #11 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 3:30pm
 
What exactly are you trying to say? The Japs should sink the Sea Shepherd boats themselves and not bother anyone else with what is happening?
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #12 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 3:34pm
 
freediver wrote on Feb 20th, 2010 at 3:30pm:
What exactly are you trying to say? The Japs should sink the Sea Shepherd boats themselves and not bother anyone else with what is happening?


How did you come up with that from what I wrote?
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #13 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 3:39pm
 
Let just say both parties involved are brainwashing crew with propaganda to achieve their desired outcomes...

Like chess with real people.
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Re: pirate boat damaged in collision with whalers
Reply #14 - Feb 20th, 2010 at 3:44pm
 
I just guessed. You aren't making a lot of sense.

Peter Garrett fails to stop cull

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/peter-garrett-fails-to-stop-cull/story-e6frea8c-1225741677450

JAPANESE whaling is set to resume in the Great Southern Ocean after Australia failed to get the numbers atthe International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting to stop the so-called "scientific" slaughter.

Diplomacy will stop Japanese whaling - Stephen Smith

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/diplomacy-will-stop-japanese-whaling-stephen-smith/story-e6frea73-1225810320499

AUSTRALIA will exhaust all diplomatic efforts to stop Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean before resorting to legal action, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.

We'll take Japan to court: PM

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/well-take-japan-to-court-pm/story-e6frg6nf-1225832387230

KEVIN Rudd has vowed to take Japan to the International Court of Justice if it doesn't agree by November to stop Antarctic whaling, but a behind-closed-doors deal could blow a big hole in his case before then.

A proposed compromise in the International Whaling Commission that allowed Japan to continue so-called scientific whaling, on a more restricted basis, could wreck Australia's claim that the practice is illegal under international law.

The Prime Minister yesterday demanded Japan reduce its Antarctic research quota to zero, from this summer's maximum 985 whales.

"If we don't get that as a diplomatic agreement, let me tell you, we'll be going to the International Court of Justice," Mr Rudd said.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, who meets Mr Rudd in Sydney today, said last night he wanted to know exactly what yesterday's comments meant.

"I would like to ask him directly what his real intention was from his comment," Mr Okada said.

"However, I understand he addressed that comment with discretion, making the precondition `if we don't get that as (diplomatic) discussion', so I do not see a big difference."

Liberal environment spokesman Greg Hunt criticised the ultimatum for postponing beyond the federal election a promise Mr Rudd first made as opposition leader in 2007: "He made the promise; he hasn't kept it."

Following a series of hazardous clashes with a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel, activist Peter Bethune leapt on to a Japanese vessel on Monday and is being taken to Tokyo for possible criminal charges.

Meanwhile, a "support group" of a dozen nations, including Australia and Japan, is trying to negotiate a compromise on the question that threatens the IWC's existence. The group is rumoured to be working privately on a deal limiting, but not halting, Antarctic scientific whaling and allowing commercial whaling in Japanese waters.

Whaling case hangs on IWC ruling

ANALYSIS: Does Australia have a viable case against Japan's whaling? That depends on what happens at the International Whaling Commission in June.

If the IWC adopts a compromise that in any way legitimises scientific whaling, it will become tough to mount the case that Japan is whaling illegally.

Kevin Rudd says the case would go to the International Court of Justice, though there is also the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Both countries accept the binding nature of the ICJ's jurisdiction, so Japan would be obliged to accept an adverse finding. Also, at the ICJ, Australia can argue the heart of its case: Japan is behaving illegally under international law.

At the tribunal, the main question would be whether marine conservation provisions of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea are being breached. Australia had initial success there with its 1998-99 case against Japan's huge "experimental" bluefin tuna catch, before losing on a jurisdictional point.

A popular Australian anti-whaling argument is that the killing happens in "our" waters -- but that's unlikely to work in an international court.

Canberra's claim to an exclusive economic zone covering waters extending from the Australian Antarctic Territory is just that -- a claim.


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