Excerpt from an Institute of Cetacean Research media release dated 20 February 2013:
On February 20 around 1100JST until about 1200JST during refueling operations, the Antarctic whale research (JARPAII) mother ship Nisshin Maru (NM) and her supply tanker were subject to sabotage by the Sea Shepherd (SS) ships Steve Irwin (SI), Bob Barker (BB) and Sam Simon (SmS). The SI and BB are sailing under the flag of the Netherlands while the SmS has Australian registry.
1. As the NM was about to come alongside her supply tanker for refueling, SS vessels, SI, BB and SmS, in foolhardy obstruction attempts, repeatedly came at close-quarter distance with the NM and the supply tanker. During their obstruction to refueling operations the SS vessels provoked several collisions (at the least: SI once; BB twice, SmS once) with the NM. The BB collided with the supply tanker too.
2. There were no injuries to the crews of research vessels including NM and the supply tanker. However, the NM suffered denting damage and broken hand railing on her bow section while the supply tanker port side hull was dented and her hand railing was damaged. Both vessels’ ability for navigation was not affected by these damages.
3. During the attack, the NM used her water pump as a preventive measure to make SS vessels refrain from further approaching and repeatedly broadcasted a warning message to stop them. However, the NM decided to interrupt her refueling operations attempts judging from difficulty due to the extremely dangerous behavior of the SS vessels.....
1. As the NM was about to come alongside her supply tanker for refueling, SS vessels, SI, BB and SmS, in foolhardy obstruction attempts, repeatedly came at close-quarter distance with the NM and the supply tanker. During their obstruction to refueling operations the SS vessels provoked several collisions (at the least: SI once; BB twice, SmS once) with the NM. The BB collided with the supply tanker too.
2. There were no injuries to the crews of research vessels including NM and the supply tanker. However, the NM suffered denting damage and broken hand railing on her bow section while the supply tanker port side hull was dented and her hand railing was damaged. Both vessels’ ability for navigation was not affected by these damages.
3. During the attack, the NM used her water pump as a preventive measure to make SS vessels refrain from further approaching and repeatedly broadcasted a warning message to stop them. However, the NM decided to interrupt her refueling operations attempts judging from difficulty due to the extremely dangerous behavior of the SS vessels.....
The Institute offers no video evidence of these collisions as they were occurring but does have one short clip showing the Nissin Maru bearing down on the SS Bob Barker. It has published some selective photographs of the collisons.
However, the Sea Shepherd organisation does have film and its videos call into doubt the Japanese version of events.
It is hard not to conclude that the Nissan Maru did not collide with, but instead deliberately rammed, Sea Shepherd vessels.
A conclusion made all the more disturbing by the fact that this ramming appears to have been sanctioned by the Government of Japan, as there is no evidence that the Japanese Coast Guard officer/s on board the Nissan Maru attempted to intervene with that ship’s captain when he embarked on this reckless course of action.
Sea Shepherd Australia videos:
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