A Japanese whaling ship and protest vessels have collided in the Southern Ocean, with the protesters saying they will next ram a Japanese factory ship, despite Australian calls for them to back off before someone is killed.
CANBERRA -- A Japanese whaling ship and protest vessels have collided in the Southern Ocean, with the protesters saying they will next ram a Japanese factory ship, despite Australian calls for them to back off before someone is killed.
Japan, which is hosting a meeting of pro-whaling nations on Tuesday to seek changes to the International Whaling Commission, dubbed the anti-whaling protesters as terrorists after the clash late on Monday.
A Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship, Robert Hunter, collided with Japanese whale spotter Kaiko Maru in the Ross Sea, south of New Zealand, damaging the Japanese vessel's propeller and forcing it to send a distress signal, Japanese fisheries spokesman Hideki Moronuki said.
The Kaiko Maru was rammed from both sides by the Robert Hunter and the Sea Shepherd flagship, Farley Mowat, leaving the boat temporarily disabled, Moronuki said.
"They are terrorists and their activities are piracy," Moronuki told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
But the protesters blamed the whalers for the collision, which left the Robert Hunter's hull holed, although the damage was not bad enough to force it to head back to port.
The Robert Hunter had been deliberately side-swiped by the Kaiko Maru, leaving gashes in the hull in two places and damaging the ship beneath the water line said Sea Shepherd founder and Farley Mowat captain Paul Watson.
RAMMING PLANNED
The activists next planned to ram a vessel into the back of the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru on Tuesday to stop whales being hauled on board for processing, Watson said.
"We're not going to sink their ship, we're just going to obstruct their activities. We'll probably have the Farley Mowat permanently stuck up their rear-end," he said.
Australian Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the activists should halt their harassment of the Japanese fleet after almost losing two crew members in fog last week.
"This is not about whaling. It is simply unacceptable for any vessel to threaten or to use violence against other ships at sea. These are dangerous and irresponsible actions," said Turnbull.
A special meeting of the International Whaling Commission begins on Tuesday, with host Japan and like-minded countries trying to build momentum to resume commercial whale hunting.
Japan wants to shift the commission's focus to whale management rather than a moratorium, but with more than two dozen anti-whaling nations -- including Australia, New Zealand and the United States -- boycotting the meeting, prospects for dialogue in the polarised organisation appear slim.
Only 34 of the IWC's 72 members are expected to attend the three-day meeting, which Japanese officials have termed a final attempt to save the IWC by drafting proposals to submit to the group at its annual meeting in May.
"We don't have any intention of holding this sort of meeting any number of times," Japan's alternate whaling commissioner, Joji Morishita, told reporters recently.
The commission instituted a commercial whaling ban in 1986. But the group is now bitterly divided between countries that assert whales need total protection and others, like Japan, that say some species are now abundant enough for limited hunting.
Anti-whaling nation Britain has set out to recruit more like-minded nations to join the commission and block Japan's drive to resume commercial hunting.
Japan, which says whaling is a cherished cultural tradition, began scientific research whaling in 1987. The meat, which under whaling commission rules must be sold for consumption, ends up in supermarkets and pricey restaurants.
Many Japanese ate whale in school lunches following its introduction by U.S. Occupation authorities after Japan's defeat in World War Two, when it was an important source of protein.
Appetites have waned, but Japan remains determined to keep on whaling despite both consumer indifference and international opposition, to which Tokyo is usually extremely sensitive.
Some say whaling gives Japan a chance to stand up to its security ally Washington.
"There's a sense that this is one way to stand up to the United States and say 'No'," said Nanami Kurasawa, with the Dolphin & Whale Action Network, an environmental group.
"The politicians are using this to save face for Japan." (With additional reporting by Elaine Lies in Tokyo)
Source: Reuters
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