[Thrownatbirth]

Mr Watson says they were able to remove all the fuel from the speedboat to prevent any pollution.

Nice job, idiot. That probably shifted the boat's trim forward allowing more seawater to flood through the open bow section during the tow. The marine casuality assessors will also investigate post-collision actions by the crew.

[kingu]

I think one has to check the timing, to be honest. What time did Paul Watson read the LA Times report where Ady Gil was asked about the damage to the speedboat and he stated that if the Ady Gil is unsalvagable, he'd just have to donate enough money to ensure a second speedboat was built.

I'm sure that the cutting of the lines supporting the Ady Gil was done shortly afterward, probably followed by a sad sat phone call from Paul Watson to Ady Gil to tell him the bad news that he's going to have to write another million dollar check. In fact, if you listened in to the call, you might hear the glee of the creator of the EarthRace’s unique profile and design at the opportunity to build a second ship that might not require hundreds of thousands of dollars in yearly maintenance to continue operation, after his year long failure to find a sponsor who'd foot the bill prior to Ady Gil footing the bill for the ship to join the Sea Shepherd pirate fleet.

Just speculation, mind you, though amusing to read Paul Watson being smart enough not to try to claim insurance on the boat, and face insurance fraud charges.