Rammed anti-whaling boat Ady Gil sinks off Antarctica

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s anti-whaling interceptor boat Ady Gil sank in the icy waters off Antarctica today, two days after it was rammed by a 1,000-ton Japanese whaling vessel, a spokeswoman for the militant conservation group said.

The sleek, carbon-fiber speedboat, whose bow was sheared off in the collision, was being towed when ropes holding it in place behind a rescue ship snapped, possibly because it had taken on water, said spokeswoman Amy Baird.

“Fortunately, all fuel and lubricants had been removed from the Ady Gil hours earlier,” Baird said.

The Ady Gil’s six crew members were rescued after the collision by the crew of the Bob Barker, a former Norwegian whaler purchased and refitted with a $5-million donation to Sea Shepherd from television personality Bob Barker, host of TV’s "The Price Is Right" for 35 years.

The Ady Gil was purchased with a $1 million donation by Ady Gil of Woodland Hills, co-owner of American Hi Definition Inc., one of Hollywood’s leading providers of video production trucks, custom control rooms and camera systems to entertainment and corporate clients.

--Louis Sahagun

Comments

[MikeOHara]

Tee hee. Best not to sail in front of a much larger speeding ship, no matter how heartfelt one's reasons.

[Renee Still Day]

After seeing this horrific incident on UTube it should be mandated that charges be brought against the captain and crew of the Japanese ship for attempted murder. The ship was sent sharply starboard (right) into the Ady Gil, that was sitting motionless in the water and after the front of the Ady Gil was sheared off, the sailors on the Japanese ship turned high pressure hoses on the crew members in an obvious effort to send them into the ocean. It was incredible and evil and they should be arrested and prosecuted to the max!

[Mufon]

How was a "sleek, carbon-fiber speedboat" rammed by a 1,000 ton whaling ship? I'm against whaling, but this type of publicity stunting and victimology hurts that cause more than helps.

[Andy Gill]

How can a fast, light vessle be hit by a big, slow one? By being in front of it deliberately, perhaps.
And how come activists get furious over a few hundred whales being killed, while say 70000 moose are hunted each year in Sweden alone? Maybe anti-whaling is sexier than anti-hunting on land? Do you think the animals on land suffer less when they are wounded but not killed? And bullfighting... Best not to mention. Fundraising for pirates is easier than most fundraising too, isn't it? My opinion

[Phil Thompson]

The Japanese and the Norwigian people need to stop killing these inteligent beings. How eather people can get by with an excuse like well we always kill and eat whales is not OK.
Give any money you can spare to the Sea Shepards, I know that I am sending a check today!

[Phil Thompson]

The Japanese and the Norwigian's need to stop killing and eating these wonderful inteligent beings. I am sending a check to the Sea Shepards and would hope that you do to. I see no other way to stop them.

[TryToBeObjective]

Interesting use of the word 'militant' for a group of people who are out to protect Whales from illegal poaching. The Japanese are hunting for whales illegally. Their operations are called poaching. They are poachers. So yes, you may refer to the Sea Shepherd as 'militants' (somewhat 60'ish) and yet they are getting the attention that is needed to stop Japan from ignoring international law and the incredible damage that their fishing practices are doing to our oceans.
In addition:
Australia SYDNEY — Australia's prime minister threatened legal action against Japan on Friday if it does not stop its research whaling program that kills up to 1,000 whales a year.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's comments came as the Australian Broadcasting Corp. quoted Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada as saying in an interview that Japan has no plans to halt its killing of whales in the Antarctic.

"We don't accept Japan's premise for those terms of so-called scientific whaling," Rudd told Australia's Fairfax Radio Network. "If we cannot resolve this matter diplomatically, we will take international legal action. I've said that before — I'm serious about it."

Japan's whale hunts are allowed under international rules as a research program, despite a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Whale meat not used for study is sold for consumption in Japan, which critics say is the real reason for the hunts.

The idea that we have to 'kill' something to 'study it' is ridiculous. It's clear that the international constraints on Japanese whaling are not strong enough and the Japanese are clearly abusing the existing agreement and profiting from it

[Robert Therrien]

Illegal whaling is always being done by the Japaneese under the pretense of scientific research that requires them to capture, kill and procees the oils and products from siad kill. The sinking of a ship observing said actions constitutes an act of WAR and all Japaneese ships caught in antartica water should be sunk on sight.
Antartica belongs to the world! The world has said no hunting or fishing in these waters. The world has said no colonization of the land in antartica. NO EXCEMPTIONS!!!!!

[Pogi]

Hmmmm...High speed carbon composite boat with the operators having a track record of harassing whalers, is rammed by slower moving Japanese whale research and culling vessel...... Right.

[Jack Norris]

Anyone who has been to sea knows that the militant's conduct will eventually get someone killed. The Ady Gil had been warned and was crossing the other ship's bow.

The Southern Ocean will kill you if you give it the slightest chance. In any event, it's no place to be making political points unless you have a death wish.

[Anon]

Watch the video shot from the Bob Barker. You will see the Whaler turn sharply into the Ady Gil. Looks like right before the collision the Ady Gil fired up it's engine to manuever, but it was too late.

[KH]

In the Japanese video you cannot see the bow line of the ship so it looks like it is not turning from the view of the crewman filming. From the perspective of the Bob Barker, look at the roll of the ship and how quickly it turns starboard. The Ady gil was definitely stationary until the last minute. I agree it was their attempt to accelerate to get out of the way, but it was too late. The SS attacks are always on the operations of the ship, never on it's crew. The Japanese, however, have attacked the SS crew directly on many occasions. There is too much money at stake for the AUS gov't to do anything. It is an obvious front because of the gigantic loophole in the ban. Think about this... What would you say about a country that kills 700-800 Elephants every year for research? Has any of the research findings been published by Japan? Anything published on what they plan to do with next years 800 whales, and what lingering questions they have about the species that will be answered by the large number of carcasses? If that's the case, Japan should be the world's leading expert on whale anatomy. I could see the research side if the profit from whale meat was marginally low, but at around $200,000 per whale, they will not stop.

[LifeLongSailor]

Renee Still Day et.al. -
1. It is the duty of every Captain to avoid any obstacles in their path.

2. The larger vessel always has the right of way, for obvious reasons.

[Emily Hay]

Not only should the captain, crew and owners of the Japanese whaling ship be subject to legal action and prison, they should be required to pay for the lost Ady Gil boat. How anyone could hunt, kill or maim such magnificant creatures as whales is beyond me and the international community needs to join together to institute sanctions against countries and individuals who hunt whales and perpetrate violence against the Sea Shepards and other environmental organizations.

[wow]

Watch the video on YouTube, you can see the whole thing. The Japanese vessel definitely rammed the other boat sitting motionless in the water. Why the heck would they even be sitting motionless to begin with, it's pretty much their own fault.

[KyanWan]

I guess when you're committing piracy & parking your boat in front of a ship - you better put "being green" aside.

Keep the engine on. Might just save your life.

*laugh*

[Russ Manning]

People have lost their minds and morals for greed. Isn't that so sad for us all. No matter what Color,religions, or beliefs we all have as a the Human race. :((

[Russ Manning]

Mankind is cruel and not understanding to each other and the animals that support the habitat that we live in as a world. Everything we have supports everything we need to survive and and we need to understand that before we stop understanding each other and everyone we care about. Might sound like alot of crap, think about it. Basically about respect for every one and everything that is around you. Do you like to have respect when you deal with people in business, ordering a meal, police,firefighters,doctors?You will all probably say I am a nut job!Anyway I do care for animals and people,but I refuse to eat people, enjoy meat... sorry PETA.Just saying.. have a smile and not be so negative.;)) Have respect for each other and attempt to help instead of being so critical, and pass it on.Eveyone have a good day.

[Richard]

The Ady Gil was crewed by a bunch of extremist idiot. I have watched Whale Wars and they spend most of their time attacking the Japanese whaling fleet. The Japanese have the right to defend themselves. If the Sea Shepard group wants to play chicken with a little speed boat vs a whaling ship power to them. They just need to learn not to whine when they lose.

I cannot say I condone what the Japanese whaling program, but if the Sea Shepard group wants to play cops, they need to be prepared to die for what they believe in and accept it as a price they are willing to pay.

[Gilly]

Looks like they need to build a boat that will get out of the way if they are going to harrass the big boats that close. Batman didn't come to the resuce this time.

[aby]

Isn't it a crime to ram another ship?

Why can't they be charged?

This was a deliberate act of sabotage, of wanton destruction.

Charge the owners and employees of the vessel with whatever charges are possible and throw the book at them all!

[confucius]

I tried to be fair and looked at both videos from youtube. From the Bob Barker video, it looks like the research ship was at fault. From the researcher video, it looks like the bat-mobile was at fault. Hmmm..... I wonder if everyone looked at both video before they start blaming each other....

[confucius]

I tried to be fair and looked at both videos from youtube. From the Bob Barker video, it looks like the research ship was at fault. From the researcher video, it looks like the bat-mobile was at fault. Hmmm..... I wonder if everyone looked at both video before they start blaming each other....

[David Jannke]

>“Fortunately, all fuel and lubricants had been removed from the Ady Gil hours earlier,” Baird said.

No. Fortunately all the crew had been removed from the Ady Gil hours earlier and no one was hurt. A message to both crews: Disagree and debate all you want and feel free to use any legal means at your disposal. It's your right. If you didn't avoid this collision to the best of your ability you have endangered human lives and have put yourself at odds with the world. If it ever comes out that you did less than your best your cause will suffer and you may be prosecuted.

Sacrifice no human lives for whales, sacrifice no human lives for whaling.

[Francesco di Molfetta]

I really thank all the people that made such an intelligent use of their welth.
Despite I love sushi, I will not go to a sushi restaurant until Japanis Authority will not change their politicy.

Best wishes to all the readers.

Roma, Italy