Posted under Whaling
The Steve Irwin is to return to port to refuel, probably to Dunedin (Port Chalmers) in New Zealand.
Edit: Due to a request from Japan for Australia to deny the Steve Irwin permission to dock in Australia, Captain Paul Whatson has elected to force the issue and has steered a course for Hobart in Tasmania. This will force the hand of the Australian Government in making a decision that could go either way! Currently the Japanese whaling fleet are prohibited from docking in Australia for any reason…
The Steve Irwin encountering rough weather during the chase
They’ve made a gallant effort in preventing the Japanese whalers from illegally killing whales in the Antarctic whale sanctuary.
They have chased the Japanese fleet for around 2,000 miles, from the far West of the whale sanctuary near Commonwealth Bay in the Australian AntarcticTerritory, to the Eastern side of the Ross Sea, the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin has been forced to cut off the pursuit to return to land for refueling.
“We have engaged them, we have stopped their whaling activities for two weeks and we have successfully chased them out of the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We now have to return to land to refuel. We don’t have the luxury of refueling at sea like the Japanese fleet has. We don’t have the resources to operate two ships down here and we don’t have the support of Greenpeace to relieve us. We are doing the best we can with the resources available to us and we are having a significant impact on their kills.”
The Steve Irwin has been on the tail of the Japanese whaling fleet for two solid weeks, keeping the fleet under pressure, preventing them from whaling and pushing them continuously to the East.
The harpoon vessel Yushin Maru #2, the first whaler that Sea Shepherd encountered this season, has not been seen since December 20th. “The Yushin Maru #2 is not with the fleet and we have no idea where it is, but that ship cannot kill whales independent of the factory ship Nisshin Maru,” reported Captain Watson from the Steve Irwin.
The Steve Irwin will return to the nearest available port to refuel and then will head back out in pursuit of the fleet again as quickly as possible.
3 Responses to “Sea Shepherd Return to Port in Australia”
Dave Head on 03 Jan 2009 at 1:53 am #
If the NZ Govt. had any ‘balls’ they would send ‘our’ navy supply ship to refuel the Steve Irwin- after all the Whale murders are in the area NZ is resonsible for & the Japs are in our southern ocean whale sanctuary.
I wonder why we bother to have a sanctuary if we are not prepared to police it – which we can do legally -sanctioned by international law [see http://www.stopwhaling.co.nz for details if you don't believe me].
I am sure if they refuel in Dunedin they will get a great welcome.
Dozzer on 03 Jan 2009 at 12:15 pm #
Thanks for the link.. I’ve added it on the left menu…
The Steve Irwin is to return to port to refuel. Bingo fuel … RTB | boathugger.com on 08 Jan 2009 at 3:15 pm #
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