Posted under Whaling
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin is enroute back to Melbourne from the Southern Ocean. And the ship is not returning alone.
“We continue to be pursued by the Japanese vessel Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68,” said Captain Paul Watson. “This vessel has maintained a distance of 7 miles and has tailed the Steve Irwin since January 15th.”
As I suspected, the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 68 has a load of armed personnel onboard from the Japanese coast guard.
TOKYO:
Japan’s coast guard said Tuesday it has sent a team of officers to protect its whaling fleet against intensifying protests by environmentalists.The whalers have repeatedly clashed with environmentalists in the Antarctic Ocean and halted the hunt two weeks ago.“Coast guards are there with a view to protect human lives and assets as they have suffered damage at the hands of activists,” Japan Coast Guard spokesman Takashi Matsumori said.
The last time the Japanese maritime police sent officers to a non-Coast Guard vessel outside Japanese waters was in 1992 when it protected a ship controversially bringing plutonium from France for nuclear power generation.The whaling mission left a Japanese port in November. The Mainichi Shimbun daily said the guards departed later on a supply ship and joined the mission in December.The Fisheries Agency requested Coast Guard protection as it was alarmed by militant environmentalists who hurled stink bombs at the whaling fleet in February 2006 during the previous mission, the Mainichi said.
Matsumori declined to give details about the current coast guard operation, citing security reasons, but said that officers had the right to carry guns or other weapons.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society questions why the Australian Customs and Fisheries vessel Oceanic Viking was required to remove their guns prior to monitoring the Japanese fleet while the Japanese fleet is guarded by armed government military personnel. Sending armed Japanese military officers into the Antarctic Treaty Zone is also a violation of the Antarctic Treaty.
The Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin is making plans to return to the Southern Ocean as soon as it can be refueled and one of the main engines repaired. The Sea Shepherd Society is also looking to recruit replacement volunteer crew and needs to collect fresh provisions.
“We can stop the whaling if we can continue to chase them and harass them,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We’re not deterred by the Japanese Coast Guard. Over the last 30 years I have battled the Navies of Norway, Denmark, Portugal and the Soviet Union and the Canadian Coast Guard. We were not deterred after being fired on by the Soviets and the Norwegians and we will not be deterred by the Japanese. They are the criminals illegally slaughtering whales and we are the defenders upholding international conservation law in accordance with the principles of the United Nations World Charter for Nature.”
