No letup in whaling conflict

BY KIRAN CHUG

Whaling wars in the Southern Ocean look set to escalate despite calls for calm, with protesters acknowledging they are risking their lives while vowing to keep fighting to stop whales being killed.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the conflict had the potential to strain relations with Japan, and led to high level talks between officials yesterday.

The Japanese embassy's minister in Wellington, Hiroto Hirakoba, said the embassy had sent its views on the collision involving the New Zealand-registered boat, Ady Gil, to the New Zealand Government.

"We think this is a very dangerous activity, on the protesters' side."

Maritime New Zealand has started an investigation into Wednesday's collision, in which Aucklander Simeon Houtman suffered broken ribs. The collision has led the protesters and Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research – which runs the whaling programme – to blame each other.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society also accused Japan of employing a New Zealander to carry out spy flights to track protesters' ships.

Steve Irwin captain Paul Watson said pilots from Melbourne charter company Direct Air alerted him to the spying. The pilots had told him that Kiwi Glenn Inwood, the institute's spokesman, had paid about A$20,000 (NZ$25,000) for the flights and said they were needed for New Zealand search and rescue purposes.

However, Mr Inwood said the allegations were "a complete fabrication".

The Ady Gil was at fault for the collision, he said. "You can see from video evidence that he puts the engines full steam ahead. He went into the path of the Japanese boat, and he came off second best."

Mr McCully said he sought assurances through his staff from Mr Inwood that he had not falsely represented himself, and was satisfied that he had not.

However, Mr McCully said even if Mr Inwood had paid for the flights that tracked the protesters' ships, that would not have been unlawful.

Green Party MP Jeanette Fitzsimons said it was "embarrassing" that a New Zealander was helping the Japanese. The Green Party was drafting legislation that would make it an offence for New Zealand individuals or companies to help the killing of whales.

She called for the Government to mount a joint international legal challenge with Australia over the killings, and though Mr McCully said that was an option, the Government was first committed to finding a diplomatic solution.

He was "deeply disappointed" with the protesters' actions , and had written to them before Christmas, warning of the dangers they faced in such remote and hazardous waters.

Chuck Swift, the captain of protest ship the Bob Barker, said neither the collision nor the Government's appeals for calm would make the protesters pull back.

"The incident very easily could have ended in fatalities but it makes me feel more determined that we are doing the right thing."

Maritime lawyer Martin Logan said determining who was at fault in the collision would depend on co-operation from both ships.

The videos that showed the collision would not be enough to ascertain fault, and investigators would need to study records from the Ady Gil's navigation system, if it had survived.

Charges of operating a vessel dangerously or putting crews at risk could result in substantial fines or three years' imprisonment.

Mr Swift said all material that could pollute the ocean had been salvaged from the Ady Gil. Though a three-metre section of the boat had sunk, the rest would be towed to the French Antarctic base Dumont Durville.

Mr Watson said the Ady Gil's crew, including Mr Houtman, were doing well, and yesterday the Steve Irwin was using a helicopter to find the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru.

FROM EARHTRACE TO ADY GIL

* The Ady Gil, registered in New Zealand, holds the world record for global circumnavigation in a motorised boat.

* Under its previous name of Earthrace, in 2008 it circumnavigated the globe in 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes, powered by biofuel.

* In March 2007, Earthrace collided with a fishing boat off the coast of Guatemala. No Earthrace crew were hurt, but one of the three crew members from the fishing boat was killed.

* The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society commissioned the Ady Gil to operate in Antarctic waters under a New Zealand flag, alongside the Dutch-registered protest ship Steve Irwin.

* The Ady Gil, named after an American woman who donated $1 million to the campaign, was capable of 90kmh speeds in Antarctic waters.

* The boat is painted with radar deflective paint and is an effective stealth boat.

* The society had hoped that during the Japanese whaling season the boat's speed would let it physically block Japanese harpoons from killing whales.

- © Fairfax NZ News