Activists held onboard whaling ship
SYDNEY: The anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said three Australian activists are being held as “prisoners” by the Japanese harpoon fleet after sneaking aboard one of their vessels overnight to protest.
Sea Shepherd said it had helped the three men from the Forest Rescue Australia environmental group to board the Shonan Maru No.2 26km off Australia’s west coast yesterday.
“The boats approached theshonan Maru under the cover of darkness and the three negotiated their way past the razor wire and spikes and over the rails to successfully board the Japanese whaling vessel,” Sea Shepherd said of the Forest Rescue trio.
They were now “being held as prisoners on board the Japanese vessel the Shonan Maru No.2” which had been tailing the Sea Shepherd ship the Steveirwin and had “armed Japanese military personnel”, Sea Shepherd claimed.
Japan’s Fisheries Agency confirmed that three men who said they were Australian had boarded the Shonan Maru No.2 – a surveillance craft – and that there were coast guard officers on board the ship.
“Three men on a rubber boat quickly approached the Fisheries Agency’s monitoring vessel and climbed to the ship,” a fisheries official said.
“Currently the Fisheries Agency is interviewing the men.
“This incident did not cause any injury to the (Japanese) crew (or) damage to the ship,” he added.
Australian Attorney- General Nicola Roxon said Canberra was in contact with Tokyo to determine the Shonanmaru’s exact location but no application had been made to bring the protesters ashore and they could end up in Japan.
“Our top priority is to make sure Australian citizens are safe and that they are being well cared for,” Roxon said, stressing that it was “early days”. — AFP