Two Activists Taken Hostage Aboard Japanese Whaling Ship

An Australian and a Briton are being held hostage aboard a Japanese whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean, the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group says.

Benjamin Potts, 28, of Sydney, and Giles Lane, 35, from Britain, crew from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Steve Irwin, boarded the Japanese whaling vessel Yashin Maru No 2 about 5pm (AEDT), the group's international director Jonny (Jonny) Vasic told AAP.

The ship was one of a fleet of five the Steve Irwin had tracked since January 1 but located on Tuesday, Mr Vasic said.

The men boarded the vessel from a Zodiac boat to hand its captain a letter informing him that the vessel's crew was "illegally killing whales" in the Southern Whale Sanctuary.

"When they got on board and delivered the letter they were not allowed to leave," Mr Vasic said.

"The letter basically stated that they (the Japanese crew) were breaking the international conservation law against whaling in the Antarctic sanctuary."

Mr Vasic said the men were tied to a radar mast for up to three hours in freezing conditions before they were taken to a locked room below deck.

"We have a photo that shows that when they were held they were basically strapped by the arms with zip ties and tied with rope around their chests, and then they were held there for several hours in the cold, and then about two-and-a-half to three hours after that, they were taken below," he said.

more at link: http://news.theage.com.au/two-activists-held-aboard-whaling-ship/20080115-1m38.html

See---I would think this kind of thing would make more headlines.


About the story though, seriously, WTF?

Greenpeace has been chasing the Japanese for days, preventing them from being able to hunt whales.

This should be big news, unfortunately, it hardly gets a mention.

There is something very wrong with this being small news.

they say there is a picture... I wonder what's going to come of this all? And someone said the Steve Irwin crew were throwing bottles of acid on the whaling boat's decks and trying to tie them up?? This is truly a clusterf*ck of half-information. =-/ I hope someone gets the whole story soon.

Greenpeace maintains non-violence, but Sea Shepherd is willing to stop whaling at all costs, including ramming vessels.

The Steve Irwin also has machine guns, but they have locked them in the basement of the ship. They could get aggressive in trying to get their crew back, but I assume as long as no whaling is going on, they are succeeding.

:-)

(Not to be picky, but it did make me laugh...)

:P

=-( Not looking forward to the outcome.

The first picture appears to show one activist tied up:



This one shows the two activists with whalers on the ship:



"The Steve Irwin has dispatched a small fast Delta boat and a helicopter to attempt to persuade the Yushin Maru No2 to stop and release the hostages."

Briton Giles Lane, 35, and Australian Benjamin Potts 28, had boarded the Yushin Maru to tell the whalers they were operating "in violation of international conservation law by targeting endangered species in an established whale sanctuary", the society said.

Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research denied the two men were tied up.

"Any accusations that we have tied them up or assaulted them are completely untrue," the Institute's director-general, Minoru Morimoto, said in a statement posted on its Web site.

"It is illegal to board another country's vessels on the high seas.

"As a result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are made on their future," he said.

He continued: "The two boarded the Yushin Maru after they made attempts to entangle the screw of the vessel using ropes and throwing bottles of acid onto the decks."

Conservationists have been chasing the fleet in an attempt to stop them hunting near the Antarctica coast.

link: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,70131-1300737,00.html

Will have to follow this closely. Japan at the very least will not like the light shone on them.

They fly a pirate flag for christ's sake.
The Japanese crew have every reason to believe these guys mean them harm, and every right to defend themselves from the pirates.
Other crews might have killed them. They are lucky the Japanese are as civilized as they are.

BTW, I do not support whale hunting. I just don't get fired up emotionally like the people that are about to assault me verbally as being a jerk, monster, asshole, hypocrite or whatever they're going to say. I get on these threads because I have seen enough racist shit against Japanese.

If you REALLY want to be talk about the issue of over-fishing, talk about over-fishing -there is plenty of it, and Minke whales are NOT the biggest problem.

If you REALLY want to talk about how they are animals with beautiful souls and all that, look at the plight of the great apes -they really are human, so to speak.

If you really want to talk about bloody barbarism, look at what OUR country is doing to the rest of the world while we wave our flags.

But most of you really just want to jump on an issue that you see as unambiguous. Well, it's not. These whalers are blue-collar workers and family men that don't deserve to have death wished upon them by the "enlightened members" of this board.

end.of.rant.

Thanks for the rant, but try to keep it confined to subjects about which you have some knowledge.

You see, that little response was cute, but you have to see the mast of the ship. But maybe you knew that, huh?

Sea Shepherd and the Steve Irwin fly the flag of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.


http://www.seashepherd.org/editorials/editorial_071207_1.html

On December 5th, Terri Irwin launched the Steve Irwin with a bottle of champagne and sent the ship to sea on a mission to protect and defend the whales. And so with Steve's spirit onboard we now are heading south into the cold and remote waters of the Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary.

The Steve Irwin proudly flies the flag of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy presented by the Mohawks at Kahnewake.

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=2d5e108b-c832-4e6a-afe0-95358b6ce598&k=51740

Anti-whaling ships to fly First Nations flags

Cheryl Cornacchia
The Gazette

Monday, June 18, 2007

After being stripped of registration papers and prohibited from sailing under the Canadian flag earlier this year, two of the world's best-known ocean warriors found a friendly port of call in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake today.

The Farley Mowat and the Robert Hunter - two ocean-going vessels operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Authority, an international anti-whaling group - will travel under a First Nations flag and with registration paper's signed by one of Kahnawake's three longhouses when they set sail for Antarctica later this year.

At a signing ceremony today, Paul Watson, captain of the Farley Mowat, was presented with the papers for his ship and the Robert Hunter, as well as with two Five Nations Iroquois Confederacy flags, a purple flag with symbols representing the Mohawks, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Cayuga.

Watson said the ships will set sail from Australia for Antarctica in November where the crews will try to prevent Japanese whaling ships from killing whales.

"It's a real honour to have the Mohawk flag flying on these ships," said Stuart Myiow of the Mohawk Traditional Council, the longhouse that drew up the registration papers.

And it isn't on the mast (repeating myself here).

The Jolly Roger has bones crossed, not a trident and a shepherd's staff. And it also doesn't have dolphins/whales swimming across the top of the skull.

We could do this all day, but if I were you, I would quit while you're behind.

"The name "Jolly Roger" goes back at least to Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates, published in 1724. Johnson specifically cites two pirates as having named their flag "Jolly Roger": Bartholomew Roberts in June, 1721<1> and Francis Spriggs in July, 1723. While Spriggs and Roberts used the same name for their flags, their flag designs were quite different, suggesting that already "Jolly Roger" was a generic term for black pirate flags rather than a name for any single specific design. Neither Spriggs' nor Roberts' Jolly Roger consisted of a skull and crossbones."

And if I saw the thing through a telescope headed at me, I wouldn't care if it was on the mast, the front or what.

Don't be so disingenuous as to suggest that Mr. Watson doesn't proudly wear the title of "pirate". He does it everywhere, as do his followers. Blogs, T-shirts, mugs. Everywhere.

Mast or not, running up a FLAG with THAT and having a history of ramming and sinking vessels on the high seas, combined with stated INTENTIONS to ram vessels = pirate.

It is you who is behind and I will gladly thrash you all day on the issue of whether or not the man is a pirate.

If, as you assert, "neither Spriggs' nor Roberts' Jolly Roger consisted of a skull and crossbones," then you have proven my point. If these pirates were flying a different flag entirely, then that exonerates Sea Shepherd. They are flying a different flag from what pirates flew.

Or, if there is some question as to whether or not they fly the Jolly Roger, we can go with Bartleby, which is linked below (unlike your little snippet), and according to Bartleby, the Jolly Roger is:



http://www.bartleby.com/59/8/jollyroger.html

Nor could Sea Shepherd be considered pirates because they do not engage in theft, robbery, pillaging, plundering or looting. This is essential to the definition of a pirate.

http://www.bartleby.com/61/73/P0327300.html

Sea Shepherd, however, seeks not to violate the law, but to enforce international law banning the extinction of endangered species.

Warning shot:
Pirates of Compassion Sail into Hostile Waters
http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070105_1.html

Taking out your mast:
Sea Shepherd ship now running as a Pirate
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/135635.php

Blowing a whole below waterline:
SEA SHEPHERD INTENDS TO RAM AND DISABLE PIRATE WHALERS
http://www.world-wire.com/news/0109060002.html

And now for the killing blow:
Shirt: "Girly" Jolly Roger Short-Sleeve T-shirt
http://store.estreet.com/seashepherd/Detail.bok?no=49

Holy shit. You're asking me if I am "for real"? They are using "pirates" to connote irony. It is satirical, and this apparently eludes your ability to understand. They are doing justice, but people call them "pirates," thus their using it to describe themselves. They are not using it in the legal sense of the word.



Maybe you don't know what a mast is. It isn't the rod pointing off of the bow of the ship. It is in the middle of the ship. Man, are you for real?



The pirates are the whalers here. They (the whalers) are actually in violation of INTERNTIONAL LAW. Did you somehow miss that part of the whole thing? Pirates break the law. Pirates do not seek to enforce the law. That someone would refer to them as a pirate is irony.



They are using the term in irony -- THEY ARE NOT PIRATES IN THE LEGAL SENSE OF THE WORD. You seem to lack the ability to understand this.

Your killing blow, huh? Get some education and understanding of when terms are used in context and how it impacts their meaning. You would believe that anyone buying a sovenir T-shirt (with a "jolly roger") is a pirate who robs and pillages merchant ships at sea? That is ridiculous. You are misunderstanding what is going on here to such a degree that it is pitiable.

At least try to begin to advocate on behalf of the planet and Progressive causes instead of wasting your time (and theirs) trying to attack them.

and here I was getting my freighter flagged in Liberia.

tell me, is the First Nations longhouse in question a party to UNCLOS or IWC? what sort of safety inspections do they require for flagging? how many PFDs per capita? do they require double hulled vessels in Antarctic Waters? at least double-walled fuel bunkers?

The Sea Shepherd tactics do go farther than I am comfortable with. Greenpeace was doing an effective job at disrupting the hunt.

I agree with you that the great apes should be protected, and their plight recognized, as well.

Thanks for the perspective. I applaud anyone who stands against injustices on people and animals.

I hope that this all turns out without anyone being injured, man or whale.

There have been treaties made and a world concensus over whaling. It has as much to do with fishing as a gold course has to do with football..

This is about being civilized enough to know better than needlessly killing an endangered species, which we should have great respect for.

"Overfishing" was one of several "issues" I brought up in my post.

There are many many things wrong with humans, and governments, treatment of other humans, animals, land, water and air.

I think there is time and energy enough to address all of them including this cause. Any issue dealing with these things is by its very nature ambiguous. And people are affected on all sides. As far as the blue-collar workers go, I understand that. The same arguments are made for clear-cut loggers and their families. They can find other work. Like any industry, supply and demand, if we remove the demand, the industry adjusts and/or disappears. Replaced, hopefully, by well paying jobs not based on killing endangered species.

Human employment is not reason enough to continue environmentally or socially harmful practices.

I'm glad so many are working/posting for the whales. Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace proudly have my support.

Taking an endangered species, same problem as overfishing.

Any whaling is "over whaling". Whales are sentient beings. They have displayed evidence of self-consciousness, self-awareness. They are the largest mammals of the sea and land, as such, are the tops of the food chain. They are critical to the entire ocean's balance.

Just as I believe no great ape or chimpanzee should be killed for research or food, no whale or dolphin should either.

While I don't approve of animal exploitation in any case, it makes even less sense with species that don't reproduce fast enough to keep their numbers up.

1. Whether or not whales are sentient is arguable.

2. Whether or not even if they are sentient is irrelevant to whether or not they should be hunted. I wouldn't want to eat them, haven't got a problem if people from other cultures do. I wouldn't want some guy telling me I can't eat beef because he thinks cows are sacred animals.

3. Being at the top of a food chain is irrelevant.

4. Being at the top of the food chain would mean the organism is less important to the "entire ocean's balance."

5. Screwing with the "entire ocean's balance" would be a problem with overwhaling. Not limited, responsible whaling.

"Just as I believe no great ape or chimpanzee should be killed for research or food, no whale or dolphin should either."

Well then by all means, don't participate in it.

The two fellows they've kidnapped were there to deliver a letter.
"Self defense" doesn't apply.

You are actually arguing in favor of B*sh-style "PREEMPTIVE self defense".
The Japanese believed the two MIGHT do something in the future, so
that makes kidnapping them OK? That's what you're saying here.
You might wanna think about that.

In this case, the mailman kept knocking on the door but the homeowner refused to answer the door. Instead of trying again later, the mailman climbed in through an open window, and when he was caught and detained by the homeowner, started whining that he was simply trying to deliver a letter.

It is illegal to board a vessel at sea without permission of the captain. Even military ships cannot board ships flying the flag of another nation, unless they have permission from that nation or a treaty between the two granting them the right. Boarding a foreign flagged ship without these is considered an act of war.

These guys weren't military, so it wasn't an act of war. Instead, it was an act of piracy as recognized under international law. Whatever their intentions were, they had no legal cover to board that ship.

Thank you. :thumbsup:

Involving Japan Australia, and the UK.

I blame them for what is happening.

This incident deserves a full investigation, and any and all whaling or whale processing should cease until such time as said full investigation is complete.

It's official. Japan's whaling activities in the area are illegal.

As much as I'd wet myself with delight at seeing that evil bitch Nisshin Maru sunk to the bottom of the sea, I'm hoping that the Japanese poachers will go home and end this farce that they call research.

has jurisdiction over international waters, how exactly?

or the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. I assume that if these vessels were in Australian waters, then the Australian Navy, which is quite competant, would be involved.

due to potential financial problems from Japan.

if there was a Japanese company holding an Australian against his will in Australian waters, that would be dealt with. I guarantee you that a vessel whaling in australian waters would be stopped. the Australian Navy has a good track record of dealing with such matters, in their territorial waters.

To: The Captain of any Japanese ship involved with poaching operations in The Australian Antarctic Territorial Economic Exclusion Zone.

Sir,

My name is Giles David Lane.

I am a British citizen and an unpaid volunteer on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Steve Irwin.

I have come onboard your ship because you have refused to acknowledge communication from our ship pertaining to your illegal activities in the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territorial Economic Exclusion Zone.

I am not boarding your ship with the intent to commit a crime, to rob you or to inflict injury upon your crew and yourself or damage to your ship.

My reason for boarding is to deliver the message that you are in violation of international conservation law and in violation of the laws of Australia.

It is my intent to deliver this message and then to request that you allow me to disembark from your vessel without harm or seizure.

I am empowered to act to uphold these laws in accordance with the United Nations World Charter for Nature and the laws of Australia.

I am boarding you with the request that you please refrain from any further criminal activity in these waters and cease and desist with the continued killing of endangered whales in this designated Whale Sanctuary in violation of the IWC global moratorium on commercial whaling and that you cease and desist in continued violations of Australian law by killing whales within the territorial waters of Australia without permit or permission from the government of Australia.

I am boarding you on the orders of Captain Paul Watson, who requests that you treat me with respect and in accordance with the Geneva Convention.

link: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/national/text-of-letter-that-led-to-capture-of-antiwhaling-activists/2008/01/15/1200159453114.html

Why didn't he go himself?

It doesn't matter if the captain of the whaling ship refused to answer his calls. It's a violation of international law to board a ship at sea without permission of the captain or crew. At the minimum, a person doing so qualifies as a stowaway, and in many countries it qialifies as piracy.

Legally speaking, the ships crew has a right to hold the men until they can be turned over to law enforcement. Because they're in international waters, they don't have to stop for ships of any nation other than their own. They could conceivably hold these men until they either return to Japan or rendezvous with a Japanese military vessel. Practically, though, the Japanese government will probably order the ships captain to either free the men or turn them over to a closer nation.

Two activists held aboard whaling ship
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3140012&mesg_id=3140012

Australia's foreign minister says Japan has agreed to free two anti-whaling activists being held aboard a Japanese whaling vessel in Antarctic waters.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Australia's national radio early Wednesday that Japan has not yet handed the men back to their own ship.

Smith added that Australian police are investigating whether there had been any unlawful activity.

Japanese crewmembers seized the men - an Australian and a Briton - Tuesday when they boarded a vessel belonging to Japan's Institute for Cetacean Research. The Japanese research institute says the men attacked their vessel with bottles of acid after illegally boarding it.

An Australian court issued a ruling earlier Tuesday that bans Japanese whaling in an area near Antarctica that Australia has designated a whale sanctuary. Japan does not recognize the sanctuary and has said it will ignore any such injunction.

link: http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-01-15-voa70.cfm

The ships are ging to need a JMSDF (Japanese navy) escort.