Boat damaged in anti-whaling clash in Antarctica

Jack Linthicum

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Jan 6, 2010, 5:13:52 PM1/6/10

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Trimaran named for Bob Barker,the sometime gameshow host, who donated
$15m for its purchase, has ten feet of the bow removed by a collision
with a Japanese whaling ship. Video at the citation. Japanese ship
uses high pressure fire hoses to fend off the Bob Barker, looks like
it would be an effective weapon against Somali pirates.

Boat damaged in anti-whaling clash in Antarctica
Video
Boats collide in anti-whaling clash in Antarctic
A violent clash between a conservation boat and a Japanese whaler has
left the smaller boat badly damaged. Both sides are trading blame for
the collision, which took place in Antarctic waters.

By ROHAN SULLIVAN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 6, 2010; 4:12 PM

SYDNEY -- A conservation group's boat had its bow sheared off
Wednesday after it was struck by a Japanese whaling ship in the frigid
waters off Antarctica during ongoing confrontations over an annual
whale hunt, 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 trimaran 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 group accused the Japanese ship of deliberately ramming the Ady
Gil.

The Ady Gil's skipper, New Zealander Pete Bethune, said the trimaran
was idled about 50 yards (meters) away from the Shonan Maru when the
whaler suddenly turned and headed toward the protest boat.

"There's no question they steered directly at us," Bethune told New
Zealand's National Radio

"It was on the port side, which meant he didn't have right of way, and
we were stationary," he said. "It's totally absurd what the Japanese
whalers have done, they've just deliberately gone in and tried to run
us over."

<more>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010600322.html?hpid=moreheadlines

David E. Powell

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Jan 6, 2010, 6:00:33 PM1/6/10

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> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR201...

Thank you for posting this Jack! The "everyday" Media will probably
cover this one.... ramming, wow. Shades of the Cold War. Reminds me of
the Sea Shepherd special I saw on one of the Cable TV stations. The
Japanese ships seem to have much better seamanship than the Sea
Shepherds so far. They pulled some beautiful moves on them in the show
that I watched. (I have to admire their sailing even if they are
whaling.)

Looks like stealth or no, visual detection can still be nasty. Think
they could tow her in for repairs or that she's a total loss?

I wonder if the Sea Shepherd types will do a Rob Arndt/South Park
style weapon thing down the road?

Jack Linthicum

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Jan 6, 2010, 6:27:47 PM1/6/10

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I seem to recall that the Bob Barker is all foam with a outer coating.
The problem would be sinking it. They are trying to decide where the
tow should go.

Tim

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Jan 6, 2010, 8:04:11 PM1/6/10

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On Jan 7, 10:27 am, Jack Linthicum <jacklinthi...@earthlink.net>
wrote:

Being reported in this hemisphere (southern) that the boat is the
"Ady Gil" ex Earthrace boat.
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/whale-watch/protest-boat-destroyed-20100106-lubs.html?autostart=1

http://www.seashepherd.org/who-we-are/the-fleet.html

All foam and composite and despite some reports the two sections are
still afloat.

The Bob Barker is reported as being a steel icebreaker.

TW

deem...@aol.com

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Jan 6, 2010, 9:51:57 PM1/6/10

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> "Ady Gil" ex Earthrace boat.http://www.theage.com.au/environment/whale-watch/protest-boat-destroy...

>
> http://www.seashepherd.org/who-we-are/the-fleet.html
>
> All foam and composite and despite some reports the two sections are
> still afloat.
>
> The Bob Barker is reported as being a steel icebreaker.
>

> TW-

The article says the crew members were tranferred TO the Barker
after the collision. I mean, these guys ARE silly enough to transfer
crew to a ship that's lost its bow, but........

Dennis

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Jan 6, 2010, 11:27:53 PM1/6/10

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Jack Linthicum wrote:

> Trimaran named for Bob Barker,the sometime gameshow host, who donated
> $15m for its purchase, has ten feet of the bow removed by a collision
> with a Japanese whaling ship. Video at the citation. Japanese ship
> uses high pressure fire hoses to fend off the Bob Barker, looks like
> it would be an effective weapon against Somali pirates.

I always thought that. You could use hydroblast rigs and cut them in
two - possibly cut pirates in two as well! Also have water cannons like
the Egyptians used on the Bar Lev Line in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. You
could have remote-controlled nozzles with video cameras to aim. Seems like
a good idea! Also have radars to detect approaching pirates, with
computers to help identify suspicious vessels.

Dennis