Smashing time

BY MIRIAM MALLINDER

Mahurangi West resident Jason Stewart was at the helm of the Ady Gil when it the Japanese whaling Shonan Maru No 2 collided in Antarctic waters last month.

"I heard the ship coming before I saw it and only had three or four seconds to react," he says.

"The first thing I saw from the cockpit was the bow of the ship looming up large to the side and bearing right down on us," says Mr Stewart, who reported his experiences to the New Zealand Maritime Authority on his return to Perth last week.

An investigation is under way.

The Ady Gil, formerly the Earthrace, was built for a round the world speed record attempt and did not have windows to the side.

A week before Christmas Mr Stewart got a call from skipper Pete Bethune.

The Ady Gil was heading to Antarctica with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to prevent Japanese whaling. But the engineer had slipped and been seriously injured just before they were to leave. Another volunteer was quickly needed for three weeks.

"I went as a favour to Pete Bethune, because I had been a volunteer on Earthrace during its final New Zealand tour in the autumn of 2009. Also, I could not pass up the opportunity of going to the Antarctic," says Mr Stewart, 41, a Hibiscus Coast policeman from 1999 to 2002.

He became involved with the Earthrace and the Sea Shepherd because he liked their principles and sought an experience that would complement his studies and plans.

An architecture student, he strongly believes in conservation and self-sufficiency.

The Ady Gill had just 24 square metres of inside space for the six crew members. As part of the Sea Shepherd organisation, food had to be vegan.

Mr Stewart’s role as engineer meant doing maintenance. He also took turns on night watch.

When they caught up with the Steve Irwin, Sea Shepherd’s flagship, it was being trailed by the Japanese vessel Shonan Maru No 2, which the Ady Gil was directed to decoy – unsuccessfully.

"After the Steve Irwin could not shake the Shonan Maru they decided to return to shore early for refuelling, which left me in the lurch because this was intended to be my ride home," says Mr Stewart.

Animal Planet, which shot documentaries with the Sea Shepherd called Whale Wars, had a cameraman on the Ady Gil.

A highlight for Mr Stewart was a 35-minute encounter with three humpback whales.

"We had become stuck in an iceflow when they appeared all around us," he says.

On Christmas Day Mr Stewart phoned home and reported snow – his first white Christmas.

A week later, the Ady Gil was due to rendezvous with the Bob Barker but they encountered the factory ship Nisshin Maru, the heavyweight of the Japanese fleet at 130 metres long and 8000 tonnes.

The Ady Gil attempted to foul the prop of the Nisshin Maru but ran out of equipment. The Bob Barker sent over new gear and some food and water, but that allowed the Nisshin Maru to get away. The Ady Gil gave chase, catching up with the whaling fleet after two hours.

It continued attempts to prop foul and slow down the factory ship, but had to stop when fuel became low.

Mr Stewart says Mr Bethune wanted to wave goodbye to the Bob Barker, which remained among the factory fleet, so gave him the helm.

He says he drove the Ady Gil towards the Bob Barker so the crew could wave, with the plan to get more fuel from the Steve Irwin in a few days and return to Hobart for servicing. Then came the collision with the Shonan Maru No 2, the ship they had first engaged with two weeks earlier.

"At the time of the impact I was the person nearest the bow, and I realised that I had come within three metres of death," says Mr Stewart.

"I was stunned for a few moments before kicking into survival mode," he recalls.

"The first thing I thought of was that I would be stuck inside a sinking boat and would have to swim out, and that I didn’t have a dry suit or thermal suit on so that if I had to get into the water, even into a liferaft, then I would get hypothermia. But those thoughts went pretty quick.

"My next thought was that the liferaft was at the helm where I was and I needed to get that outside.

"After that I did not have too much time to think because Pete appeared inside and asked me to make the mayday call, which I did.

"From that point on it was all action. I found a thermal suit that would help.

"We took the boat out of reverse and turned the engines off. Pete gave me the emergency beacon and I took it outside to set off but it occurred to me that we did not need it because I could see then that we were not actually sinking.

"Everybody was in shock but we were trying to keep our thought processes clear and work out what things were the priority.

"I remember telling Pete to make sure he got our passports out."

He helped move essential equipment out to the back deck and saw the Bob Barker launching an inflatable boat.

"I was one of the first two crew taken off the Ady Gil and transferred to the Bob Barker. I was pretty thankful to get to the top of that ladder at the side of the Bob Barker and meet some friendly faces.

"Different crew members came up to me and gave me hugs and hot chocolate. The captain, Chuck Swift, offered me a satellite phone and I called home to tell them I was okay.

"Since I was Aussie-born the Sydney Herald Sun wanted to interview me and I spent half an hour on the phone to two different reporters giving my account.

"I spent the whole of the next day recovering the remaining fuel, then we hooked the Ady Gil up to tow."

Mr Stewart has not ruled out further conservation campaigns, although he finds it hard to be away from family for extended periods.

- © Fairfax NZ News