Japanese sailors accused of ramming anti-whaling vessel

News Com Au 07/01/2010 

SEA Shepherd captain Paul Watson today accused Japanese whalers of a high seas hit-and-run, disputing claims a collision with one of its speedboats was accidental.

Six crew members aboard the anti-whaling ship Ady Gil were rescued, one with broken ribs, after it and the Japanese whalers' ship the Shonan Maru 2 collided in remote Antarctic waters.

The high-tech trimaran was ripped apart in the collision.

Japan's Fisheries Agency has blamed the Ady Gil for the crash, saying it slowed suddenly while crossing in front of the Shonan Maru.

But Mr Watson today labelled the claim ridiculous, saying the whaling ship deliberately rammed the boat in a high seas "hit and run".

"The Ady Gil was stationary at the time it was struck," Mr Watson said on Macquarie Radio.

Conservationists Clash With Japanese Whalers in Southern Ocean

VOA News 06/01/2010

An environmental group says one of its boats was split in two and taking on water after a collision with a Japanese whaling ship in Antarctica.

An environmental group says one of its boats was split in two and taking on water after a collision with a Japanese whaling ship in Antarctica.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says one of its boats, the Ady Gil, a sleek high-technology speed boat, was rammed and sliced in half by a Japanese ship, the Shonan Maru.

All six crew members were unharmed and were rescued as the boat began taking on water near Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica.

The Sea Shepherd group claims it was the victim of unprovoked aggression and indicates that it will fight back.

The captain of the organization's flagship vessel, Paul Watson, says his colleagues are lucky to be alive.

"When the skipper on the Ady Gil saw the Shonan Maru moving in to strike him, he put his engines in reverse to get out of the way, which probably saved some of his crew but it ripped the front end of the vessel off and caused catastrophic damage to the Ady Gil," explained Watson. "The Ady Gil then put out a distress signal, a mayday signal, which was ignored and not acknowledged by the Japanese and then they sped away from the scene of this incident."