Whaling boat 'rams protest ships'
A Japanese whaling boat intentionally rammed two protests ships in waters near Antarctica today, according to an anti-whaling activist group.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson said he was aboard the ship Steve Irwin when the Japanese whaling boat Nisshin Maru collided with it, the Bob Barker and a tanker used to refuel the Japanese fleet.
The Japanese boat deliberately rammed the Sea Shepherd boats to try to move them aside and get to the refuelling tanker, and also accidentally hit the tanker, Mr Watson said.
He added that the incident, near the Australian Davis Research Base on the Antarctic coast, was particularly dangerous because the tanker was involved.
He said the Bob Barker sustained the most damage, adding that boat put out a distress call to Australian maritime authorities after it lost power and began taking on water, but that the crew had got the situation under control. He said no one from the Sea Shepherd fleet was injured.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Jo Meehan said they were aware of the reports but were not involved in any active search-and-rescue operations.
Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for Japan’s Tokyo-based whaling organisation, said he was seeking more information.
Sea Shepherd boats and the Japanese whaling fleet have had past clashes and collisions.
Australia’s environment minister Tony Burke said in a statement that he was aware of the reports and was seeking more information.
“The government condemns so-called ’scientific’ whaling in all waters and we urge everyone in the ocean to observe safety at sea,” Mr Burke said.
Japan says it hunts whales for scientific purposes, an allowed exception to an international whaling ban, though activists say the hunts are a cover for commercial whaling because whale meat not used for study is sold for consumption in Japan.
Japan describes Sea Shepherd as a terrorist group that risks lives through tactics used to obstruct the whaling fleet.
