Posted on 01/06/2010 9:09:19 AM PST by jazusamo
A conservation group's boat had its bow sheared off and was in danger of sinking as it took on water Wednesday after it was struck by a Japanese whaling ship in the frigid waters of Antarctica, the group said.
The boat's six crew members were safely transferred to another of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's vessels, the newly commissioned Bob Barker. The boat is named for the American game show host who donated $5 million to buy it.
The clash was the most serious in the past several years, during which the Sea Shepherd has sent vessels into far-southern waters to try to harass the Japanese fleet into ceasing its annual whale hunt.
Clashes using hand-thrown stink bombs, ropes meant to tangle propellers and high-tech sound equipment have been common in recent years, and crashes between ships have sometimes occurred.
The society said its vessel Ady Gil — a high-tech speedboat that resembles a stealth bomber — was hit by the Japanese ship the Shonan Maru near Commonwealth Bay and had about 10 feet (three meters) of its bow knocked off.
Locky Maclean, the first mate of the society's lead ship, said one crewman from New Zealand appeared to have suffered two cracked ribs, but the others were uninjured. The crew members were safely transferred to the group's third vessel, though the Ady Gil's captain remained on board to see what could be salvaged, he said.
"The original prognostic was that it was sinking, but at this point it is flooded with water but it seems to still have a bit of buoyancy," Maclean told The Associated Press by satellite phone from the ship, the Steve Irwin.
The group accused the Japanese ship of deliberately ramming the Ady Gil.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
He is not interested in discussion. He is just a whaling winnie.
weenie
I would have preferred a little practice with the Oto Malera. Anything more would have been wasteful. 
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Not in this case. The "Law of the Sea" isn't as open-slather as you suggest: there are International Laws and there are Antarctic Treaties in place and agreed between Nations. Japan's bogus "scientific" whaling activities in the Antarctic contravenes these.
Internationally-speaking, the Antarctic is a very special place, and it is protected by Treaty to prevent just this precise sort of exploitation.
See here for technical view on this.
> Where are the Indictments? When do the trials begin? Or are you countenancing vigilante justice?
The independent review that I have cited above suggests that Australia can and probably should take Japan to the international courts for "Law of the Sea" and "Antarctic Treaty" violations.
I concur with that view.
Failing that, I have no issues whatsoever with private citizens enforcing the established laws, as is their God-given entitlement to do. Private citizens have always enjoyed that right, going back to the Magna Carta and even before that. And they have had the right to perform Citizen's Arrests and to Use Force to give those arrests due and proper effect.
Doing *that* isn't "vigilante justice" — vigilantes make up their own laws and punishments as they go along.
In the Antactic, Japan is a rogue nation. They have no business violating the Antarctic Treaties and they ought to be stopped. Which is precisely what the Sea Shepherd Society is trying to do.
I say "Good on 'em".
Instead, they commit illegal acts themselves.
What gets funnier is the variety of 'sides' on this issue, and the 'ignorance' of many of those comments.
Oh well, everyone is entitled to their 'opinion', regardless to how uninformed it is.
Were it Iranian speedboats ramming US fishing vessels, I bet some would have a radically different 'opinion'.
Its still on the the law books that if a Jolly Roger is being flown, its legal to fire on them.
My Coast Guard buddy told me that.
What is so good about your source? They are anti-drilling, climate change fanatics.
> Instead, they commit illegal acts themselves.
There is nothing illegal about citizens enforcing the law in the absence of designated Law Enforcement agencies.
You, yourself, personally, have that right AND responsibility. So do I. So do they.
Actually, it doesn't. Japan is operating way outside anything contemplated as "scientific research" by the International treaties. And it is doing so in a zone that is specifically protected by International treaties from being exploited in this manner.
> The enviro wackjobs are assaulting the whalers. So far the whalers have shown restraint.
The whalers have shown restraint because they are operating illegally, under color of right. They are counting on being able to continue with their lawless behaviors so long as it is only whales that are getting killed. If one of the protesters were to be killed, you could bet on serious charges being laid and a sudden halt to their bogus "scientific" whaling.
> The enviro wackjobs are are escalting this not the whalers.
You would be hard pressed to find anybody DownUnder sympathetic to the Whalers. Not even Conservatives, like me.
Save the other for bab barker, the ship or the gameshow host or both
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