Protest ship 'rammed by Japanese whaler'

Published on Saturday 6 February 2010 19:34

AN ANTI-whaling ship and a Japanese harpoon boat collided in the icy waters off Antarctica yesterday.

Environmentalists last night claimed the Japanese whaler had rammed the Bob Barker, a vessel belonging to green activist group Sea Shepherd.

There was no report of injuries following the clash, which is the second of its kind this year.

US-based Sea Shepherd, which sends vessels to confront the Japanese fleet each year, said a 3ft gash was torn in the hull, but it was above the water line and the Bob Barker was not in danger of sinking.

Sea Shepherd founder Captain Paul Watson said by satellite telephone that the Japanese ship rammed the Bob Barker – named after the US game show host who donated millions to buy it for the group – as it blocked the slipway of the Japanese fleet's factory ship.

Watson's claim that the Bob Barker was deliberately hit could not be independently verified. The Japanese Fisheries Agency was unable to confirm whether or not the collision had taken place.

On 6 January, a Japanese whaler struck Sea Shepherd's high-tech speedboat the Ady Gil and sheared off its prow. The Bob Barker then came to rescue the crew of the Ady Gil, which sank a day later.

Sea Shepherd and the whalers have faced off in Antarctic waters for the past few years over Japan's annual whale hunt, with each side accusing the other of acting in increasingly dangerous ways.

Sea Shepherd activists try to block the whalers from firing harpoons, and they dangle ropes in the water to try to snarl the Japanese ships' propellers. They also hurl packets of rancid butter at the Japanese.

The whalers have responded by firing water cannons and sonar devices meant to disorient the activists.

Japan takes hundreds of whales each year under a programme that is allowed despite an international moratorium on killing because it is done in the name of science. Critics say much of the meat is eaten.