anti-whaling ship sliced in half by japanese

About time we sent the navy after these #$%^&^%


Anti-whaling ship sliced in half by Japanese
Anne Barrowclough

Japanese whalers have sliced in half a high-tech anti-whaling boat in a dramatic escalation of the annual battle between the whaling fleet and environmental activists

The $1.5 million, 79 foot long 'stealth' boat Ady Gil sank after the attack in Southern Ocean but its six man cew was rescued uninjured, said Captain Paul Watson, founder of the radical environmental group Sea Shepherd.

Captain Watson said the Ady Gil, a light weight vessel that resembles Batman's spacecraft more than a conventional boat, was idling in waters near Commonwealth Bay in the Antarctic when it was suddenly rammed by the Japanese ship Shonan Maru, which was providing security to Japan's whaling fleet.

"This seriously escalates the whole situation," said Captain Watson. Speaking from on board the Steve Irwin mother-ship, which was 500 miles away from the collision, Captain Watson added: "According to the (Japanese) Institute of Cetacean Research, the Ady Gil's crew were launching projectiles at the Nisshin Maru and attempted to entangle its propellers with rope."


The Ady Gil, a biodiesel powered trimaran, arrived at the South Ocean stand-off between Japanese whalers and activists on Tuesday. It was reported earlier today to be 50 miles away from the whaling fleet.

The collision came as both sides employed new tactics to out-wit the other. Recently Captain Watson announced the existence of a secret third ship in the Sea Shepherd flotilla which he said would cause maximum disruption.

For their part, the Japanese increased their own security, adding two security ships to protect their fleet and launching spy flights from Australian airports to track the protest boats.

Captain Watson, a founder of Greenpeace who broke away to form his own more radical group is notorious for encouraging his crews to use increasingly confrontational tactics, many of which are opposed even by those who denounce Japan's whaling programme.

His boats regularly attempt to entangle the propellors of the whaling ships and frequently sail small open dinghies between whales and the harpoon boats in an attempt to foil the whalers.

The resulting confrontations pose a constant risk of injury. In 2007, the two sides had a collision and called a temporary truce in an effort to find two Sea Shepherd members who had drifted away in a small vessel in fog

Kevin Rudd's government in Australia has repeatedly called for caution by both sides.

"We have reminded the masters of protest vessels of their obligations under international law to take all steps to ensure safety of life at sea, particularly in the inhospitable conditions of the Southern Ocean," Environment Minister Peter Garrett said recently.

"We are also passing the same message to the government of Japan."