Japanese whaling ship rams protest boat: Sea Shepherd

SYDNEY, Feb. 6 Kyodo -
A Japanese whaling ship intentionally rammed a vessel of the U.S. environmental
conservation group Sea Shepherd in the Antarctic Sea on Saturday, Sea Shepherd
said in a statement that was contradicted by the Japanese whalers.
Sea Shepherd said the collision occurred when its vessel, the Bob Barker, was
trying to block the slipway of a Japanese whaling factory ship.
The Yushin Maru No. 3, a Japanese harpoon ship, ''intentionally rammed the Bob
Barker, creating a 3-foot (91-centimeter) long 4-inch (10-cm) deep gash in the
mid-starboard side of the Sea Shepherd vessel above the waterline,'' the
statement said.
The Bob Barker is a former Norwegian whaling vessel and the latest addition to
the Sea Shepherd fleet.
Contradicting the Sea Shepherd account, Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research
said the Bob Barker suddenly approached the Yushin Maru No. 3 in an attempt to
hurl butyric acid-containing bottle projectiles toward the Japanese vessel.
''When the Yushin Maru No. 3 tried to avoid this, the Bob Baker collided with
its stern,'' the institute said in a press release on its Website.
The Yushin Maru No. 3 suffered minor damage to its hand rail and hull, the
statement said.
After the collision, the activists continued to harass the Japanese whaling
vessels, using a large slingshot device to shoot butyric acid-containing
bottles at the Shonan Maru No. 2, a security vessel in the Japanese whaling
fleet, the institute said.
About 10 of the bottles appeared to have landed on the Shonan Maru's deck, the
institute said.
The incident occurred about 290 kilometers off Cape Darnley in the Australian
Antarctic Territory, according to Sea Shepherd.
There were no reports of injuries either to the Bob Barker crew or crew members
of the Japanese whaling ships.
In an earlier statement, the Japanese institute said the Bob Barker had sailed
to within 10 meters of the stern of the whaling mother ship, the Nisshin Maru,
and repeatedly beamed a high-power green laser device at the vessel in the
early hours of Saturday.
''The obstructive behavior was unprecedented and lasted a long time. There was
a danger of causing blindness as irradiation was targeted at the crew,'' an
official at the institute said.
Japan says its whaling operations in the Antarctic Sea are part of a ''research
whaling'' program. Sea Shepherd accuses Japan of engaging in illegal whaling in
the guise of scientific research.
In January, Sea Shepherd's high-speed stealth powerboat Ady Gil sank after
colliding with the Shonan Maru No. 2.
==Kyodo