Anti-whaling ship sliced in half by Japanese

The Times

Japanese whalers have sliced in half a high-tech anti-whaling boat in a dramatic escalation of the annual battle between the whaling fleet and environmental activists

The $1.5 million, 79 foot long 'stealth' boat Ady Gil sank after the attack in Southern Ocean but its six man cew was rescued uninjured, said Captain Paul Watson, founder of the radical environmental group Sea Shepherd.

Captain Watson said the Ady Gil, a light weight vessel that resembles Batman's spacecraft more than a conventional boat, was idling in waters near Commonwealth Bay in the Antarctic when it was suddenly rammed by the Japanese ship Shonan Maru, which was providing security to Japan's whaling fleet.

"This seriously escalates the whole situation," said Captain Watson. Speaking from on board the Steve Irwin mother-ship, which was 500 miles away from the collision, Captain Watson added: "According to the (Japanese) Institute of Cetacean Research, the Ady Gil's crew were launching projectiles at the Nisshin Maru and attempted to entangle its propellers with rope."

Australia director for Sea Shepherd Jeff Hansen said the Ady Gil was at a standstill when it was rammed..

"They (the crew) saw the Shonan Maru approaching and tried to back away but they couldn't get out of way in time and were T-boned by the Shonan," said Mr Hansen.

"The Shonan put a hole in the Ady Gil and the nose has clean broken off," he said.

Mr Hansen said the Ady Gil issued mayday call that was not answered by the Japanese whaling fleet. The crew were now on the fleet's third boat, the Bob Barker, he said, but wee unsure if the Ady Gil could be salvaged..

The Ady Gil, a biodiesel

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