Looking more like Batman's spacecraft than a boat, the biodiesel-powered trimaran arrived in Hobart yesterday on its way to the Southern Ocean, with its eponymous Californian businessman owner on board.
The Ady Gil docked in Hobart. Photo: Peter Mathew
A Hollywood production-house owner, Mr Gil bought the former globe-girdling record-setter Earthrace for seven figures from its New Zealand skipper Pete Bethune and, repainted and renamed, donated its use to Sea Shepherd to fight whaling.
''I believe the cause has to be attacked from a variety of angles,'' Mr Gil said. ''[Sea Shepherd leader] Paul Watson is the firing arm.''
Mr Gil said he had never been to sea before, and he came ashore shaky. For the Tasman crossing, Mr Bethune kept the speed down in rough seas. Nevertheless, Mr Gil said the ride was a physical ordeal inside the cramped central cabin.
He left the ship to Mr Bethune and a crew of five to go south into ice-strewn whaling waters.
Captain Watson said from Fremantle, where he is readying his main ship, Steve Irwin, that the Ady Gil would be used to intercept the whaling fleet's chaser boats. ''What I think we can do is latch onto at least one of the three harpoon vessels and keep them out of the picture.''
Mr Gil said he was confident of the ship's safety. It passed an inspection by Maritime New Zealand before being declared fit for the Tasman crossing. Mr Bethune has plastered on half a tonne of Kevlar armour to reduce hull damage if the Ady Gil hits ice, and painted it with carbon-flecked paint that he says will lower the ability of radar detection. He also set an array of speakers capable of 9000 watts of sound into the rear of the cockpit, the better to get his message across.
''What will I play when I find them?'' Mr Bethune said. ''Hmm. Tangaroa from [NZ musician] Tiki Taane. It's a growling big sort of a song about the God of the Sea who looks after us.''
Mr Bethune then wound up the song and its big Maori war-cry chorus, driving a television crew from the dock.
With the Japanese fleet currently reported to be halfway through their journey south, the Sea Shepherd ships plan to leave next week to begin their campaign about the time the whaling usually starts.
A spokesman for federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett reiterated a warning for all parties to exercise restraint and make safety at sea the highest priority.
msolga, what's the story about culling camels in Australia? Didn't hear much in America, just a few stories on NPR. A tragedy (if that's what is happening)
.... The drama began when 30 camels approached the town, known as Kaltukatjara to its mostly indigenous population, more than a month ago. More followed looking for water, and soon thousands of the animals " which can grow up to 2.1 metres (7ft) tall and weigh 900kg (2,000 pounds) " were antagonising locals.
"The community of Docker River is under siege by 6,000 marauding wild camels," the Northern Territory local government minister, Rob Knight, told Northern Territory News. "The herd is increasing day by day."
Camels were first taken to Australia in 1840 from the Canary Islands to help in exploring the vast outback. The population continued to rise until the early 1920s, when motorised vehicles became more widely available.
As the need for them dwindled, most were turned into the bush, where owners expected they would die in the harsh conditions. But numbers have swollen to the extent that the Northern Territory government now estimates that "in excess of 1 million" feral camels are roaming the country.
:In an interview with the ABC, Japan's Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has revealed that his government has no intention of reviewing the policy.
And the minister says that eating whale meat is an important element of Japanese culture that must be respected by Australians.
The Japanese whaling fleet is heading towards the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean where it will again do battle with militant protesters from the Sea Shepherd Conservation group. ...<cont>
The president and founder of Sea Shepherd, Captain Paul Watson, says this afternoon's attack will not hurt the group's resolve to stop whaling.
"If they think that our remaining two ships will retreat from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in the face of their extremism, they will be mistaken," he said.
"We now have a real whale war on our hands now and we have no intention of retreating."
Chris Aultman, the helicopter pilot on board the Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin, says no one was hurt in the attack, but it could have been fatal.
"Luckily no one was in the bow of the vessel at the time of the collision or they certainly would have been killed instantly," he said.
Mr Aultman says the attack was unprovoked.
"At the time of the collision, the vessel was dead in the water. It was motionless and there was no confrontation taking place between the two vessels," he said.
"The Shonan Naru just must have seen a suitable target and took upon itself to strike the vessel. It was a completely and absolutely wilful act."
The six crew on board the Ady Gil have been transferred to the Sea Shepherd's third ship, the Bob Barker, which put out a distress call after the attack.
Sea Shepherd unveiled the Ady Gil, worth $1.5 million, in October last year. The ship could reach up to 50 knots and was used to intercept and block harpoon ships from killing whales.
Garrett calls for calm
Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the Government is very concerned by the collision, and called on all parties to show restraint.
"We condemn any dangerous or violent activity that takes place in the Southern Oceans and we call on all parties to exercise absolute restraint," he said.
"No request for assistance was sought by the vessels involved. The Government repeats its calls for the utmost exercise of restraint and to remember that safety at sea is of paramount importance."
Mr Garrett says the Government has no immediate plans to send a ship to the Southern Ocean to monitor tensions.
"The Government isn't making any decisions about sending vessels at this point in time," he said.
"On the basis of the information that the Government has, there hasn't been a formal request for assistance to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
"We believe that on the basis of those reports that those crew members from the Ady Gil are safe on another vessel."
Spying claims
The ramp up in hostilities comes amid accusations from Sea Shepherd that the Japanese have chartered Australian planes to spy on their three ships.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she does not condone this type of surveillance.
"We don't condone this action by the Japanese government at all. We are urgently seeking legal advice about this conduct," she said.
Greens leader Bob Brown says the Federal Government should ban Japanese whalers from having access to Australian airports.
"The Australian Government is facilitating the innovative whaling interests from Tokyo in getting at the whales, it's as simple as that," he said.
"This country has the ability to legislate to prevent any further surveillance taking place. It does it, for example, to prevent terrorism, and it can do the same to prevent the slaughter of the whales."
Senator Brown says the Australian Government should get serious about preventing whaling and send its own surveillance vessels to track whalers.
"While the whales are being harpooned with grenade tipped harpoons, [Prime Minister] Kevin Rudd and [Environment Minister] Peter Garrett are asleep," he said.
"They don't want to know about it they find it politically embarrassing."
Ms Gillard rejects these accusations, saying the Government is taking action against the Japanese whaling program.
"We did dispatch a vessel during a whaling season to get footage of whaling. We have that footage available to us for an international court action," she said.
"We are currently pursuing this matter hard diplomatically, but should it become necessary to have an international court action, we have the evidence available to us from the actions we've already taken."
A spokesman for Japan's Fisheries Agency, which oversees the whaling program, has told the ABC in Tokyo that it is investigating the circumstances of today's alleged ramming incident.
The spokesman says it is not clear whether it was an accident or a collision.
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