Things are getting ugly in the Southern Ocean between the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) fleet… as if they weren’t already.
On Monday, the second clash in less than a week occurred between the two fleets in the Southern Ocean with multiple collisions being reported. What we know for sure is that the collisions occurred Sunday as the Nisshin Maru was attempting to refuel with their supply tanker, Sun Laurel. Sea Shepherd has previously vowed to sever the fuel supply to the Japanese whaling research fleet by blocking the supply ship’s access to the ICR ships. Last week, we reported that several collisions occurred under similar circumstances with both sides maintaining that the other is at fault.
Of course both sides are again down playing their roles in Sunday’s collisions in yet another wild (and confusing) game of “he said, she said”. Here’s a breakdown of what both are saying:
What the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) is saying…
On February 25 around 1200JST until about 1500JST during refueling operations, the Antarctic whale research (JARPAII) mother ship Nisshin Maru (NM) and her supply tanker were again subject to sabotage by the Sea Shepherd (SS) ships Steve Irwin (SI), Bob Barker (BB) and Sam Simon (SmS). The SI and BB are sailing under the flag of the Netherlands while the SmS has Australian registry.
As the NM was about to come alongside her supply tanker for refueling, the SS vessels SI, BB and SmS repeatedly forced their way between the NM and her supply tanker. During their obstruction to refueling operations the SS vessels rammed into, at the least: BB three times; SmS two times, with the NM and the supply tanker. There were no injuries to the NM and supply tanker crews. Damage suffered by both the NM and the supply tanker is being checked. - Read More…
Photo: THE INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH,
TOKYO, JAPAN
Photo: THE INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH,
TOKYO, JAPAN
Photo: THE INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH,
TOKYO, JAPAN
Photo: THE INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH,
TOKYO, JAPAN
What Sea Shepherd is saying…
The Nisshin Maru has caused at least three collisions: twice with the Bob Barker, shoving the ship into the Sun Laurel at 1448 AEDT and 1516 AEDT, and ramming the Sam Simon at 1715 AEDT. The Bob Barker has sustained major damage from being sandwiched between the Nisshin Maru and the fuel tanker Sun Laurel. The engine room is now visible through a crack in the floor of the galley. The Sam Simon has massive scratches and dings along their hull, and a smashed satellite dome.
The three Yushin Maru harpoon ships crossed the bows of Sea Shepherd Ships trailing propeller-foulling lines. The Sam Simon, Steve Irwin, and Bob Barker have had flooding in their engine from the Nisshin Maru’s water cannons. The Nisshin Maru threw a flash bang grenade that exploded off the port stern of the Sun Laurel, leaving large black charred marks. - Read More…
Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
…and there you have it. Now given this information, who is at fault?
That poor Sam Simon is always getting it's butt kicked but not a single photo of it in any clash to date.
That poor Sam Simon is always getting it's butt kicked but not a single photo of it in any clash to date.
It is evident from Sea Shepherds' own photos that they are the agressors in moving between the other two ships to do what they have claimed they are there to do; disrupt the refueling. According to maritime law, their actions are criminal… What defense can there be?
I absolutely agree, senior officers should be punished for criminal act ” safety of life at sea”
It's good to hang pirates. What is the reward these days for Paul Watson?
I would pull watch for the Japanese for FREE. Let me bring a couple of guys and done gear, and we could fix this trash in a couple days.
Sure you would, Bryce. Sure you would.
Typical big mouth and nothing behind if there are not a lot of people around You idiot.
HEY BRYCE.. YOU’RE JUST A FIRST RATE PIECE OF FECES…
Things are not looking good, during bunkering as per all maritime laws….you simply can not do it , may be Sea Shephard are right to denfend the whales but not this way
PREVIOUSLY
Why they don’t hang the nigger pirates for africa.
Woops, anders. You posted your racial slur under the wrong message. It would have made much more sense otherwise…. I mean as much sense as a moron such as yourself is capable of making.
This has got to stop. next thing you know that tanker will be leaking oil.
Wouldn’t it be cute if those @$$-clown Sea Shepard pirates wound up causing an oil spill themselves with all of their stupid vessel-ramming antics?
What an abject display of stupidity. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these idiots are lucky Japan has a pacifist constitution and likely will not deploy its Navy/CG against Sea Shepard. Won’t be long however, and it wouldnt suprise me it, the owners of these whaling ships start posting armed guards.
The Sea Shepherd's crew should be JAILED AS PIRATES! from their own incriminating photos.
Sooner or later, a disaster.
Go Sea Shepard. The only name I see in this blog, Paul Watson, is the only one on this blog with Cajones.
from what I see in the pictures (both sets), there is an overtaking vessel ramming the overtaken on her port side while the overtaken vessel is displaying restricted ability to maneuver day shapes. Thats’s a whole lot of steering and sailing rules being broken by Sea Shepard morons. I don’t agree with the whaling but this is at least criminal negligence and can easily be argued as piracy.
from what I see in the pictures (both sets), there is an overtaking vessel ramming the overtaken while the overtaken vessel is displaying restricted ability to maneuver day shapes (Nissan Maru). They are also ramming the tanker being overtaken on her port side, (can’t see any day shapes though). No matter how you look at it thats’s a whole lot of steering and sailing rules being broken by Sea Shepard morons. I don’t agree with the whaling but this is at least criminal negligence and can easily be argued as piracy.
yes i see the japanning ships as aggressors as whaling is banned ,but the jappenese have ignored the ban and are killing whales in Australian waters ,so the Sea Shepard are helping to protect the whales which is the right thing to do,the japs should be banned from the Olympics for being the aggressor ,they have no rights stealing and killing whales in Australian waters ,i have banned buying jap products ,true scumbags.the Australian government is to gutless to stop the japs dirty business of stealing.
If you would like to help support the ICR in their fight against Paul Watson and his pirates, go to this website and request a form to make a donation:
http://www.icrwhale.org/01-G-ENG.html
A nother dip stick stands up.
As always from both sites, it's not easy for us to monitor who is to be claim as I have only 30yrs maritime experience, as all pictures are well sorted and show us nothing at all from the beginning of this so called clash,, as who was and where 1st, 2nd and who came last. Why we don't get AIS tracking routes and speed in public from BOTH parties? as Japs has turned that off very long time ago as from real AIS we can see what happen with out "Brain washing pictures".
You should not use the word as Japs, it was left behind in 1945. Call Japanese.
i scares me that you can`t see on these photos whom to blame, when you claim your 30 years at sea, work with Maritime Security. "Brain washing pictures" ??? They are all from CETACEAN and Sea Shepard! If you know anything about COLREGS, you don`t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out it is Pirate Watson to blame.
Do any of those defending the Japanese whalers actually think that the “Institute of Cetacean Research” is doing pure research, and not selling the whale meat to the higest bidders in Japan?
Let’s get real. The IRC is a phony front organization that’s somehow managed to exploit loopholes in the international whaling laws. If they were doing the same song and dance along the West Coast of the USA, and gathering abalone “for research”, how many of you would stand for it?
I just want to know who is Sea Shepherd’s hull insurer…
I guess the IRC has decided to abandon behaving like a gentleman (or, should I say pretending to behave?). There is no way that 11kt max tanker can outrun SS ships. Since SS insists on positioning their ships in that way, only the thing NM can do is shove them away to get fuel. I think there will be more and more bang and Sun Laurel will look pretty miserable at the end of the day.
By the way, the IRC did not plan to send a whaling fleet this year because aging NM needed major works. Some politicians just pushed them, and, so there they are. SS is just pouring gasoline on rising nationalism. It appears that there are many Japanese who do not support whaling but want to see SS getting whacked before Japan quit whaling.
THE JAPANESE SHOULD DEFGEND THEMSELVES WITH GUNS AND NOT WATER CANNONS.
… The IRC is violating international law simply by being there and killing whales. If Paul Watson & the Sea Shepherds are prevented from stopping the IRC, who will step in?
Even though I don’t agree with whaling on a large scale, animal research is going on all over the world. Trying to ram a tanker in the Southern Ocean is about as dim-witted as you can get. Who is manning these Sea Shepherd (SS) ships and from whom do they get their moronic instructions? The Japanese whaling vessels should install guns on board and shoot to kill if somebody tries to ram them on purpose. Causing deliberate harm to the environment should be punished to the full extent allowed under Admiralty law and the SS vessels should be impounded and destroyed. The Sea Shepherd folks should be prosecuted as pirates and executed if found guilty. The Southern Ocean is a very dangerous place. There is no need for misguided cretins to make it even more perilous.
It comes down to this- either you are for the whales or against them. If you support the Japanese murder of the planet’s largest & most intelligent mammals (and I mean the dolphin slaughter in Japan too), then you are a heartless, soul-less zombie posing as a human being.
Overtaken vessel has right of way. Looks to me like the overtaking vessel collided with the stand on vessel. Also they are not pirates. They are eco-terrorists, and we all know where terrorists go…GITMO.
Look like Bob Barker was trying to 'Come on Down!'
Were they trying to board a vessel without permission? Pirates says I, Hang em from the nearest trawler.
yup sea sheap Sh! t needs to go, they are a danger to the high sea's, their crews need to be arrested and thier vessels impounded to pay the Japanese whalers for the increased costs they have incurred because of this nonsense. The Japanese are not doing anything illegal.
Say what you want about the professionalism and actions on the behalf of the Sea Shepherd CS (I have a few opinions myself… especially about their moron of a leader), but it is true that they did not aim for the tanker. If you look at the propeller back wash from the NM, you can clearly see that they veer first starboard and then port sandwiching the Sea Shepherd vessel.