Japanese security vessel collides with anti-whaling protest boat+

SYDNEY/TOKYO, Jan. 6 Kyodo -
An anti-whaling group's stealth vessel is sinking in Antarctic waters after
colliding with a security vessel of the Japanese whaling fleet in an incident
that left one activist injured, the group said Wednesday.
Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, told Kyodo News the
Shonan Maru No. 2, a vessel sent by Japan to ensure the security of its whaling
fleet, deliberately rammed his group's A$2 million (US$1.8 million) vessel Ady
Gil and ''sheared the bow right off.''
''It ripped 8 feet of the front of the vessel off,'' Watson said. ''At this
point it does not look salvageable, it's taking on water.''
According to his account, both vessels has been stationary in the water when
the Shonan Maru No. 2 started up and then steered deliberately into the Ady
Gil, which had been harassing the fleet, at around 3:50 p.m. Australian time.
One of the Ady Gil's six crew members sustained several cracked ribs in the
incident, he said, adding that five crew members were evacuated, but its
captain remained onboard ''trying to see what he can do to salvage the
vessel...or at least some of the equipment.''
Watson, speaking from aboard the ship Steve Irwin, also said Sea Shepherd put
out a mayday distress signal ''but the Japanese fleet refused to acknowledge
that and just kept going. It was a hit and run.''
The Japanese Fisheries Agency blamed the collision on Sea Shepherd, saying the
Shonan Maru No. 2 crew had tried to ward off the approaching Ady Gil with water
cannon but the anti-whaling vessel employed maneuvers such as suddenly reducing
speed, which resulted in the collision.
Glenn Inwood, the spokesman for the Institute of Cetacean Research, told Kyodo
News his information was the Ady Gil was idling in the water and then went
''full steam ahead'' to cut off Shonan Maru No.2.
He said the Ady Gil skipper miscalculated and the ''fault lies'' with Sea
Shepherd vessel for the collision.
Inwood added the anti-whaling has the ''responsibility'' to tow the stricken
ship back to New Zealand or Australia.
According to Watson, the Shonan Maru No. 2 has been ''particularly aggressive''
this year after it earlier tried to damage the activists' helicopter. ''I think
their order this year is to try and cause material damage to the ships.''
The incident came after Japan's semiofficial Institute of Cetacean Research
reported earlier Wednesday that the Ady Gil's crew had launched projectiles at
the Nisshin Maru, the mother ship of Japan's whaling fleet.
It said the high-tech Ady Gil had come ''to collision distance directly in
front of the Nisshin Maru bow repeatedly deploying and towing a rope from its
stern with the intent to entangle the Japanese vessel's rudder and propeller.''
''Further, the activists onboard the Ady Gil recurrently shoot a green laser
device aiming at the Nisshin Maru crew and fired butyric acid-containing
ball-like projectiles with a launching device. One of these projectiles landed
in the Nisshin Maru's deck,'' it said.
The institute condemned Sea Shepherd for ''extremist actions'' that threaten
the safety of the Japanese whalers.
''Their actions are nothing but felonious behavior,'' it charged.
In a statement on his organization's website, Watson said, ''The Japanese have
now escalated this conflict very violently.''
''If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern
Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken,''
he added.
The Japanese Fisheries Agency said Wednesday's protest activities by the Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society marked the fourth time this season for it to
obstruct the operations of Japan's whaling fleet in Antarctic waters.
Sea Shepherd has sent three vessels for this year's operation, including the
Steve Irwin and a surprise appearance, the Bob Barker, a former Norwegian
Antarctic whaling vessel that the group said caught the Japanese ''completely
off guard.''
''The objective of Sea Shepherd's three-ship campaign is to bankrupt the
illegal Japanese whaling fleet and to sink them economically,'' it said.
Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett called for calm after the
incident, which occurred in the area of Commonwealth Bay off the Adelie Coast
of Antarctica.
''It's critical for safety at sea to be the highest priority and for the
absolute and utmost restraint to be exercised by all parties in this very
remote and inhospitable region,'' he said.
He said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority had not been asked to respond
to the collision, adding Australia had no immediate plans to send a vessel to
monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, local media reports Wednesday said Japan has been chartering flights
from Australia to monitor the location of the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling vessels
in the Southern Ocean.
Watson claimed the planes are being charted illegally by Glenn Inwood, the
spokesman for the Institute of Cetacean Research.
''We actually caught him in a bit of a bind because he misrepresented himself
to the charter company saying he was a representative of the New Zealand
government,'' he told Kyodo News.
Inwood, when asked about the allegation, answered, ''No comment.''
Acting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia is seeking legal
advice on the matter.
''I make it very clear on behalf of the Australian Government we do not condone
this action by the Japanese Government,'' she said.
==Kyodo