About us
  |  
Advertising
  |  
Contact
  |  
Get Home Delivery
  |  
RSS
  |  
Share on your site
  |  
MULTIMEDIA
May 27, 2012
 
 
 
 
 
 

Japanese whalers accused of sinking high-tech boat

Activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, on their high-tech powerboat Ady Gil, sail near a Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean on Wednesday. The hard-line Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said its powerboat Ady Gil was cut in half by the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No. 2.
7 January 2010 / REUTERS , CANBERRA
Anti-whaling activists accused Japanese whalers of ramming and sinking a high-tech protest boat in the frigid Southern Ocean on Wednesday, but Japan said that its ship could not avoid the collision.
The Australian government called for restraint by all parties after the hard-line Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said its futuristic powerboat Ady Gil was cut in half by the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No. 2. All six crew were rescued, but the collision left one activist with two broken ribs and the A$1.5 million ($1.37 million) carbon-fiber trimaran was sinking, Sea Shepherd said.

“We believe it was deliberate. Our ship had come to a complete stop and they basically came straight down on top of them. They cleaned them up,” the group’s Australian director Jeff Hansen told Reuters. Japan’s Fisheries Agency said the collision took place when Ady Gil suddenly slowed down as it crossed in front of Shonan Maru, which had warned the boat of impending danger.

Ady Gil did not send a distress signal and did not appear to be sinking, the Agency said, adding that Shonan Maru did not suffer major damage and its crew were safe. “The series of obstructing activities by SS (Sea Shepherd) are dangerous acts that threaten the vessels engaged in scientific whaling as well as the lives and properties of the crew and they cannot be forgiven,” it said.

Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 treaty, but Japan continues to cull whales saying it is for research purposes, deflecting criticism from anti-whaling nations. Australia’s government called for calm in the Southern Ocean and said it would not be sending a patrol boat to the area.

”The point I would make is that the risk of accident is high and the capacity for rescue in these areas is low and it is absolutely critical that restraint be prudently exercised by all parties,” Environment Minister Peter Garrett told reporters.

Trade, court challenge

Environmentalists accuse center-left Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of backpedalling on threats of an International Court of Justice whaling challenge to avoid damaging Australia’s trade ties with Japan and slow-moving talks on a free trade pact.

Japan was Australia’s top export destination in 2008, with two-way trade worth $58 billion. Canberra also maintained a $25 billion trade surplus on the back of coal and iron ore exports. Some legal experts believe the cull violates international law. A court challenge would lead to so-called provisional orders for Japan to halt whaling ahead of a full hearing.

 
Weather
City>>
ISTANBUL
Today Mon Tue
14C°
22C°
15C°
23C°
15C°
22C°
 

© Feza Gazetecilik A.Ş. 2007, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı Cad. No: 6, Bahçelievler - İstanbul 34194 Turkey, +90 (212) 454 1454, +90 (212) 454 1497(fax)