Dutch superyacht yards set new records for market value and share

DutchNews, May 17, 2018

Like superyachts themselves, the Dutch share of the superyacht building industry keeps getting bigger. The Holland Yachting Group says the Dutch saw their market share in the total value of global superyacht deliveries rise by 7.6% to almost 30% in 2017. 

With 23 new orders on the books, there is much more to come in the years ahead, the group said. ‘In essence, the Dutch are selling more superyachts at a higher total value, while also steadily increasing their market share over the past five years’. 

The Dutch yachtbuilding industry defines a superyacht as being over 30 metres in length. 

The 21 deliveries of boats over 30 metres made in 2017 were made by 10 different yards. The superyachts concerned had a total value of €1.19bn, which translates into an average price of €57m per superyacht, an increase of almost 10%. 

It is also the highest total value recorded to date, Holland Yachting Group said. 

Germany, Italy and the Netherlands – in no particular order – are the world’s leading superyacht builders. Germany specialises in larger yachts, Italy in series production, while the Netherlands specialises in custom-built yachts in the 24 to 70 metre sector.

A battle for Amsterdam’s boat owners as city shakes up canal cruise licencing

DutchNews, April 25, 2017

Canal cruises are a popular tourist draw

Canal cruises are a popular tourist draw Amsterdam city council is shaking up the system for awarding licences to canal tour operators and dozens of boat owners say they may go bust because their boats are about to be banned. 

Currently tour companies buy a licence for life, but the city council has now said all licences will be awarded for a fixed period only. 

On Monday, the 135 licences for boats longer than 14 metres were handed out. Some 480 boats had applied for a permit in one of two categories – regular or characteristic – to run from 2020 to 2030. 

In particular the owners of characteristic canal boats are furious at the way their boats were judged in a ‘beauty contest’ and say dozens of boats which have been part of the city’s waterways for decades are now being banned. 

Among the casualties of the new system is the Hildebrand dating from 1880 and the oldest passenger boat on the Amsterdam canals. The Soeverein, with a piano and kitchen, will also be banned from the canals from 2020. Boat company ‘t Smidtje, lost all eight licences for its classic canal boats. 

In total, one third of the licences have gone to new companies, city alderman Udo Kock said. The change has been made necessary by EU rules. ‘The closed market we have had for decades is simply unfair,’ Kock told the Parool newspaper. 

From 2020, all boats offering trips to tourists must be fully electric. 

Some three million people take a canal cruise in Amsterdam every year. 

Amsterdam to get world’s first robot boat in €25m project

DutchNews, September 19, 2016

An artists impression of a robot boat in action

One of America’s leading universities is putting €20m into developing robot boats which will be able to navigate the Amsterdam canals without a captain. 

The project, which will start trials next year, is a joint research programme between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, together with teams from Delft and Wageningen universities. 

The total budget for the five year Roboat research project, which will be based in Amsterdam, is €25m.

‘Imagine a fleet of autonomous boats for the transportation of goods and people,’ MIT professor Carlo Ratti said in a statement. ‘But also think of dynamic and temporary floating infrastructure like on-demand bridges and stages, that can be assembled or disassembled in a matter of hours.’

Professor Arjan van Timmeren, the AMS Institute’s scientific director said: ‘We’ll also be exploring environmental sensing. We could for instance do further research on underwater robots that can detect diseases at an early stage or use Roboats to rid the canals from floating waste and find a more efficient way to handle the 12,000 bicycles that end up in the city’s canals each year.’ 

The first prototypes of Roboat will be tested on the Amsterdam canals in 2017.

Palau burns Vietnamese boats in warning to fish poachers

Yahoo – AFP, 13 June 2015

Vietnamese fishing vessels are set on fire off the coast of Palau, on 

June 13, 2015 (AFP Photo/Richard Brooks)

The small Pacific island nation of Palau has set fire to four Vietnamese fishing vessels caught illegally operating in its waters, and delivered a stern warning that it will not tolerate poaching.

The 77 crew members were transferred to two other arrested fishing boats with enough fuel and provisions to get back to Vietnam.

"This message goes to the captain and crews of these vessels. Palau guarantees you will return with nothing," President Tommy Remengesau said after the boats were burned on Friday.

Palau President Tommy Remengesau

 delivers a speech at the 45th Pacific

 Islands Forum, in Palau, in July 

2014 (AFP Photo/Richard W. Brooks)

"Captains will be prosecuted and jailed. Boats will be burned. Nothing will be gained from poaching in Palau. From one fisherman to another, respect Palau."

The Vietnamese boats were caught in a protected area with more than eight tonnes of sea cucumbers and reef fish on board.

Since last year, 15 boats from Vietnam have been seized with more than 25 tonnes of Palau's marine species destined for the black market in Asia.

"We have a simple message for those who try to steal Palau's marine resources: We will not tolerate poachers in our ocean," Remengesau added.

"Palau is working with our military, diplomacy, and NGO partners from around the world to get tough on illegal fishers and protect our food security."

Palau hosted workshops last month involving maritime surveillance authorities from the United States, Australia, Japan and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, designed to develop a comprehensive marine enforcement plan.

"Illegal fishing is a major threat to Palau, given its location as a critical gateway to the Pacific," said Seth Horstmeyer of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Global Ocean Legacy programme.

"With a no-tolerance policy and growing enforcement capabilities, illegal fishing will be stopped in Palau."

Palau, in the western Pacific, has a fishing-reliant economy for its population of 21,000 people spread over 250 islands.

Over 20 people dead after tug boat capsize on China's Yangtze River

At least 21 people have died and one is missing after a tugboat capsized whilst undergoing sea trials in the Yangtze River. Rapid currents have hampered the rescue effort.

Deutsche Welle, 17 Jan 2015

China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Saturday that the 30-meter (98-feet) vessel had had 25 people on board, including eight foreign nationals, when it sank on Thursday.

Rescuers dragged the 368-tonne ship Saturday to shallow water before searching it for those still unaccounted for.

Three people, all Chinese, were rescued, with one person still missing as authorities continue to search the vessel's cockpit and nearby areas of the Yangtze River in the Jiangsu province, Xinhua reported.

The newly built, Wanshenzhou 67, was making its maiden test voyage Thursday in the Fubei Channel when it capsized.

Sembcorp Marine Ltd, a Singapore-based shipbuilder, said Friday the tugboat sank during a sea trial. The ship's owner, parts suppliers and engineers were among those on board.

Rapid currents hampered the rescue effort, and it was not until Saturday morning when rescue teams were able to surface the vessel and tow it to shallow waters to undertake a more thorough search.

jlw/sb (AP, Reuters)

An Urgent Call for Reform in Indonesian Boat Safety

Deadly Waters: Despite the alarming number of fatalities from accidents at sea, no steps are being made to prevent further deaths

Jakarta Globe, Kennial Caroline Laia, Aug 03, 2014

Relatives go through a list of casualties from a boat accident in Panai Hilir, North
 Sumatra, one in a alarming string of similar incidents during the Idul Fitri week.
(EPA Photo/Adil Situmorang)

Jakarta. Urgent reform in the Indonesian maritime transportation system is needed after a recent string of fatal boat accidents, analysts say, adding that the incoming Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla government should make the issue a priority.

“Our sea transportation system needs an immediate fix. If the government continues to neglect it, boat accidents in our waters will happen again and again,” Suyono Dikun, transportation expert with the University of Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe.

At least 50 people have died and dozens remain missing in four boat accidents that occurred in the past week across the archipelago. Officials have admitted that aside from rough waters, most of the incidents were caused by overcapacity.

A boat carrying at least 51 people sank in waters between South Sulawesi and Selayar Islands on Wednesday.

Seventeen people are now known to have died in the accident, which marks the end of a tragic week in the country’s maritime transportation system.

On July 28, the first day of this year’s Idul Fitri, two people died and two remain missing after a ferry sank in the Nabire district of Papua.

The following day, a ferry carrying some 70 travelers across a Kalimantan river sank, with the final death toll put at 18.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), told state-run Antara news agency on Wednesday that the boat had been carrying more than double its maximum capacity.

On Wednesday, a fishing boat sank in Berombang river, located in the Labuhan Batu district of North Sumatra, claiming 13 lives — 10 of whom were children.

Last week at least three people died after an overloaded boat ferrying Indonesians home for the coming Idul Fitri holiday sank off southern Malaysia.

Three bodies were recovered, 10 people were rescued and eight more remained missing in the incident. The boat — carrying 21 Indonesian undocumented migrant workers — capsized and sank in rough seas off Malaysia’s Johor state, said Iskandar Ishak, the local head of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, as quoted by AFP. Officials added that the boat had a capacity of just eight passengers.

Suyono blamed the government for the alarming number of disasters across Indonesian seas that could have been prevented, saying that state policies on safety in water transportation and their enforcement were far from sufficient to protect passengers.

Additionally, boat operators seem to lack concern over their customers’ safety, loading as many passengers as possible for profit, regardless of the vessel’s capacity.

“The government did not place transportation safety as a priority in its policy. Meanwhile, most Indonesian boat crews take safety precautions very lightly. For them, safety is a trivial factor in their business,” Suyono said. “Despite the accidents and resulting casualties, boat companies, their crew and the government have not done anything to improve the situation.”

He also pointed out that the Indonesian government has never allocated a special budget to improve the safety equipment on board boats and trains, nor are their employees trained on crucial, life-saving safety procedures.

“As far as money is concerned, I have never heard of the government distributing funds for any sort of safety features on boats,” Suyono said.

Danang Parikesit, former chairman of the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), said that sea transportation was more prone to accidents than other modes of travel, due largely to a lack of supervision from the government.

“State management and supervision is close to nonexistent. In the context of the country’s transportation system, safety equipment is not a priority, nor is the routine inspection of these equipment,” he said. “In addition, our evacuation procedures — which include the handling of victims — are far from meeting international standards. That is the main factor for the high number of casualties in boat accidents.

“This is beyond critical. MTI’s study in 2008 shows that compared to other countries in the world, our government has failed to pay attention toward the safety in the sea or river transportation,” he said.

Danang pointed out that the small amount of media coverage on boat accidents contributed to the public and the government’s low level of awareness concerning water transportation.

“The media rarely covers boat accidents. Most report only on large incidents, so many tragic occurrences actually go undetected by the public,” Danang said.

“The media should be more proactive in writing or reporting on stories related to water transportation in Indonesia in order to put more pressure on the government,” he added. “Even after all the horrific accidents that occurred these past two months, our officials are still not taking action.”

Meanwhile, Danang said, most boat operators continue operating despite having little to no understanding of the necessary safety features and procedures that may save passengers in case of an accident.

“Most of these companies don’t even equip their vessels with sufficient safety gear,” he said.

Despite the pressing need for improvement in safety standards and the skills of boat personnel, inaction, little concern and a lack of understanding continue to be a detrimental force between the two entities that have the power to change the increasingly alarming situation: the government and transportation operators.

“In the past five years, no significant steps have been made to prevent accidents at sea. No attention has been made to safety. There has been no improvement at all,” Danang said.

“I urge the new government to take the necessary steps in preventing further calamities at sea by not only tightening rules and regulations concerning water transportation, but also improving on the meager supply of safety equipment [on board vessels],” he added.

Both Suyono and Danang called on the incoming Joko-Kalla administration to prioritize sea transportation over other forms of travel, pointing to the fact that Indonesia is an archipelago.

“With thousands of islands separated by water, the transportation system in this sector should be placed at the government’s ‘to do’ list ,” said Danang.

Suyono hopes the president-elect will tackle the issue before more Indonesians fall victim to negligence at sea.

“The outgoing administration has failed in protecting its travelers. But this could be a lesson for the next government. They need to address the situation as soon as possible,” he said.

Man washes up in Marshall Islands 'after 16 months adrift'

Google – AFP, 31 January 2014

A castaway who identified himself as Jose Ivan is helped off a patrol boat by a

 hospital nurse in Majuro after a 22-hour boat ride from Ebon Atoll on February 3, 

2014 (AFP, Hilary Hosia)

Majuro (Marshall Islands) — An emaciated man whose boat washed up on a remote Pacific atoll this week claims he survived 16 months adrift on the Pacific, floating more than 12,500 kilometres (8,000 miles) from Mexico, a researcher said Friday.

The man, with long hair and beard, was discovered Thursday when his 24-foot fibreglass boat with propellerless engines floated onto the reef at Ebon Atoll and he was spotted by two locals.

"His condition isn't good, but he's getting better," Ola Fjeldstad, a Norwegian anthropology student doing research on Ebon, the southern most outpost of the Marshalls, told AFP by telephone.

Fjeldstad said the man, dressed only in a pair of ragged underpants, claims he left Mexico for El Salvador in September 2012 with a companion who died at sea several months ago.

Details of his survival are sketchy, Fjeldstad added, as the man only speaks Spanish, but he said his name was Jose Ivan.

"The boat is really scratched up and looks like it has been in the water for a long time," said the researcher from Ebon.

Ivan indicated to Fjeldstad that he survived by eating turtles, birds and fish and drinking turtle blood when there was no rain.

No fishing gear was on the boat and Ivan suggested he caught turtles and birds with his bare hands. There was a turtle on the boat when it landed at Ebon.

Stories of survival in the vast Pacific are not uncommon.

In 2006, three Mexicans made international headlines when they were discovered drifting, also in a small fibreglass boat near the Marshall Islands, in the middle of the ocean in their stricken boat, nine months after setting out on a shark-fishing expedition.

They survived on a diet of rainwater, raw fish and seabirds, with their hope kept alive by reading the bible.

And in 1992, two fishermen from Kiribati were at sea for 177 days before coming ashore in Samoa.

Heading home after epic voyage (AFP)

According to Fjeldstad, the Marshall Islanders who found Ivan took him to the main island on the atoll, which is so remote there is only one phone line at the local council house and no Internet, to meet Mayor Ione de Brum, who put in a call to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Majuro.

Officials at the Foreign Ministry said Friday they were waiting to get more details and for the man to be brought to Majuro.

The government airline's only plane that can land at Ebon is currently down for maintenance and is not expected to return to service until Tuesday at the earliest, with officials considering sending a boat to pick up the castaway.

"He's staying at the local council house and a family is feeding him," said Fjeldstad, who added that the man had a basic health check and was found to have low blood pressure.

But he did not appear to have any life-threatening illness and was able to walk with the aid of men on the island.

"We've been giving him a lot of water, and he's gaining strength," said the Norwegian.

The Marshall Islands, in the northern Pacific, are home to barely 60,000 people spread over 24 atolls, with most of them standing at an average of just two metres above sea level.

Boats in the Marshall Islands, where José Ivan finally landed after

16 months adrift in the Pacific. Photograph: Alamy

Related Articles:

Castaway tells tale of 16-month Pacific survival to rival Life of Pi

Pacific castaway arrives back in civilisation - New

A castaway who identified himself as Jose Ivan is helped off a

patrol boat by a hospital nurse in Majuro after a 22-hour boat

ride from Ebon Atoll on February 3, 2014 (AFP, Giff Johnson)

Terror at sea as Thai tourist ferry sinks

Google – AFP, 4 November 2013

Thai rescuers evacuate an injured foreign tourist after a ferry sank off the

coast in Pattaya on November 3, 2013 (AFP)

Pattaya — Thai rescuers Monday recounted frantic efforts to pluck terrified survivors from the sea after a crowded tourist ferry sank, leaving six dead including three foreigners, as police searched for the captain who fled.

The tragedy raised new questions about safety standards in the kingdom, which drew a record 22 million tourists last year but is struggling to shake off a reputation for lax regulation.

Three Thais, one person from Hong Kong and two other unidentified foreigners were among the dead, according to officials in the tourist resort of Pattaya, around 150 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Bangkok.

Thailand: Deadly ferry accident (AFP)

The double-decker ferry sank on Sunday afternoon near Koh Larn, a small island popular with day-trippers from Pattaya, a popular beach resort renowned for its racy nightlife.

"The boat went down in minutes. I saw people -- some with life jackets, some without -- in the water. One man was holding on to a gas cylinder. There was a body face down in the water. 
They were all panicking, shouting for help," said a local dive guide who was one of the first on the scene.

"We pulled 60 people from the water, including a Russian boy. We gave him CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) but he was in a very bad way," she said, asking not to be named.

Police said that apart from the six dead, all of the 150-200 others on the boat -- including many Russians -- were believed to have been rescued. Nineteen people were injured.

"We don't expect to find any more dead. One Russian boy is seriously ill in intensive care," said Pattaya police chief Colonel Suwarn Chiewnawintawat.

"The captain ran away. We will issue an arrest warrant for him," he said. "Divers will recover the boat today. We still don't know the cause."

Stunned tourists were seen being led to safety on shore on Sunday where they were met by dozens of ambulances along Pattaya's neon-lit beachfront. Medics performed emergency first aid on injured passengers.

This general view shows the beach along

 the coast of the Thai holiday resort of

Pattaya, on September 22, 2006

(AFP/File, Indranil Mukherjee)

Accidents involving boats, buses and other forms of public transport are common in Thailand, where safety standards are generally poor.

"We still don't know the reason for the accident. I am not sure if there are more dead or not, because we don't know how many people were on the boat," said Thai rescue diver Suttipong Boonmachai.

"Today we are going to recover the boat. We will use underwater detection equipment," he told AFP on Pattaya's main pier.

A local boat captain who witnessed the tragedy recounted throwing life jackets to passengers in the water.

"I saw 100 people -- most of them foreigners -- in the water," he said. "I threw 50 life jackets into the water. There was one man, he was not breathing. We pulled him out of the water."

On Pattaya's main pier it was business as usual Monday for the operators of double-decker wooden ferries preparing to take tourists out on day cruises.

"After an accident like this the boats should be grounded for checks but today they are all running," said a European working in the town's marine tourism industry, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The boats are very old. There's no maintenance. They are always overcrowded... there's no head count."

Thai rescuers administer first aid and 

perform CPR to injured foreign tourists

 after a ferry sank off the coast in Pattaya

on November 3, 2013 (AFP)

In recent years the kingdom's tourist-friendly image as the "Land of Smiles" has also been tarnished by political violence, crimes against foreigners and devastating floods, but visitor numbers continue to rise.

Diplomats from China and the European Union have voiced concern at the number of incidents involving their tourists.

In May more than 100 people were rescued from a tourist ferry which began to sink in rough seas near the tourist island of Phuket.

Two Chinese tourists were killed and several others injured in August when a speedboat in which they were travelling crashed in Pattaya.

Last month an Indian woman died when a boat propeller struck her head while she was parasailing on her honeymoon in the same resort.

Other high-profile safety incidents in the kingdom include a fire at a nightclub in August 2012 on the island of Phuket that left four people dead including two foreigners.

'Shark helped save me' says rescued Kiribati fisherman

AFP/Google, Giff Johnson (AFP), 14 September 2012

MAJURO, Marshall Islands — A day after watching a film about being lost at sea, Toakai Teitoi was trapped in his own nightmare, drifting in a wooden boat for 15 weeks -- before a shark helped to rescue him.

The record for drifting at sea is believed

 to be held by two fishermen, from Kiribati,

 who were at sea for 177 days (AFP/File,

 Michael J. Field)

The 41-year-old Kiribati policeman and father-of-six relived his harrowing voyage in the central Pacific when he arrived in Majuro on Saturday on the Marshall Islands fishing boat which picked him up last week.

He told of sleeping with the body of his brother-in-law who died during the ordeal, suffering severe dehydration and praying to be found alive.

Teitoi's drama began on May 27 after he had flown from his home island of Maiana to the Kiribati capital of Tarawa to be sworn in as a policeman.

Following the ceremony, he watched a film about four men from Kiribati who were lost at sea. Only two survived by the time they were washed ashore in American Samoa six weeks later.

It was then that he changed his mind about flying home and joined his brother-in-law Ielu Falaile, 52, on what was supposed to be a two-hour sea journey back to Maiana in a 15-foot wooden boat.

But after stopping to fish along the way and sleeping overnight, they woke the following day to find they had drifted out of sight of Maiana and soon after ran out of fuel.

"We had food, but the problem was we had nothing to drink," he said.

As dehydration took hold, Teitoi, a Catholic, said he turned to prayer as it gave him strength. But Falaile's health began failing and he died on July 4.

"I left him there overnight and slept next to him like at a funeral," Teitoi said. He buried his brother-in-law at sea the next morning.

Only a day after Falaile passed away a storm blew into the area and rained for several days allowing Teitoi to fill two five-gallon containers with a life-saving supply of fresh water.

"There were two choices in my mind at the time. Either someone would find me or I would follow my brother-in-law. It was out of my control."

He continued to pray regularly and on the morning of September 11 caught sight of a fishing boat in the distance but the crew were unable to see him.

Dejected, he did what he had done most days, curling up under a small covered area in the bow to stay out of the tropical sun.

Teitoi said he woke in the afternoon to the sound of scratching and looked overboard to see a six-foot shark circling the boat and bumping the hull.

When the shark had his attention it swam off.

"He was guiding me to a fishing boat. I looked up and there was the stern of a ship and I could see crew with binoculars looking at me."

When the vessel Marshalls 203 pulled Teitoi on board the first thing he asked for was a cigarette.

"They told me to wait. They took me to meet the captain, and they gave me juice and some food."

With Teitoi in no physical danger, the Marshalls 203 continued fishing for several days before returning to Majuro.

He was scheduled to fly from Majuro to Tarawa on Sunday and will then fly to Maiana.

"I'll never go by boat again. I'm taking a plane," he said.

Huge Waves Damage Anti-Whaling Boat

Jakarta Globe, December 29, 2011

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said the Brigitte Bardot's hull
split when it was struck by a "rogue wave." (Agency Photo) 

Related articles

• Sea Shepherd Says Drones Find, Photograph Japan’s Whaling Fleet
• Anti-Whaling Activists Use Drone to Track Japan Fleet
• When Whaling Is the Priority, Don’t Count on Japan's Recovery
• US, Australia, NZ ‘Disappointed’ with Japan Whale Hunt
• Japan Halts Antarctic Whaling for Rest of Season

Sydney. Anti-whaling activists chasing the Japanese harpoon fleet suffered a major setback on Thursday when the hull of one of their ships cracked in massive seas, forcing a second to divert to its rescue.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said the Brigitte Bardot’s hull split when it was struck by a “rogue wave” as it tailed the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru in six meter swells some 2,400 kilometers southwest of Australia.

“The crack has been getting wider as the seas continue to pound the vessel,” the activist group said.

Sea Shepherd spokesman Paul Watson said lead vessel the Steve Irwin was en route to the troubled Brigitte Bardot, which has also suffered severe damage to one of its pontoons, but warned it would take 20 hours to get there.

The Bardot’s captain, South African-born Jonathan Miles Renecle, was “confident that the ship will stay afloat until the Steve Irwin arrives” he added.

“This is disappointing but these are hostile seas and we have always been prepared for situations like this,” Watson said.

“Right now the safety of my crew on the Brigitte Bardot is our priority and we intend to reach the crew and then do what we can to save our ship.”

The incident means just one Sea Shepherd vessel, the Bob Barker, is now tailing the Japanese fleet, which it intercepted on Sunday with the help of a military-style drone.

Watson said all the crew were safe and uninjured and the Bardot, Sea Shepherd’s scout vessel, was “repairable.”

“We’ll be bringing it back to Fremantle and then the Steve Irwin will return to support the Bob Barker,” he told Sky News via satellite phone from the Southern Ocean, estimating that it would be a five-day trip.

“It’s a setback, but you know, when you come down here you’re facing a number of dangers, not just the Japanese whaling fleet but also the very remote area, it’s a hostile area weather-wise with ice,” he added.

Watson said it was Sea Shepherd’s eighth season pursuing the whalers and it was “inevitable something (like this) is going to happen sometime, we’ll just deal with it and carry on.

“I’m still confident that we’ll be able to intervene against the Japanese whaling operations,” he said.

Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority said it had been monitoring the situation but there was no active rescue afoot because Sea Shepherd was managing the situation.

“We were aware of it, but it was really a monitoring brief for us because it was a Sea Shepherd vessel to which another Sea Shepherd vessel was going to the aid,” a spokesman told AFP.

“We were in communication with them but they’ve got it under control themselves now.”

Japan’s Fisheries Agency, which commissions the annual whale hunt, routinely refuses to comment on the issue and declined to be drawn on the damaged boat Thursday.

“I cannot make any comment related to the (whaling) mission,” an agency official said.

Sea Shepherd purchased the Australian-flagged Brigitte Bardot, a high-speed 100-foot monohull racer, to replace the futuristic speedboat Ady Gil, which sank during a fierce clash with the harpooners in January 2010.

Watson said there were 10 crew on board the stricken Bardot — three Britons, three Americans, an Australian, a Canadian, a Belgian and its South African captain Renecle.

Commercial whaling is banned under an international treaty but Japan has since 1987 used a loophole to carry out “lethal research” in the name of science — a practice condemned by environmentalists and anti-whaling nations.

Confrontations between the whalers and increasingly sophisticated activists have escalated in recent years and the Japanese cut their hunt short last season due to Sea Shepherd harassment.

Japan’s coastguard has deployed an unspecified number of vessels to protect the whaling ships, using some tsunami reconstruction funds, and the whalers are also suing the activists in Washington seeking an injunction against what they say is a “life-threatening” campaign.

Agence France-Presse

Related Article:

Sea Shepherd anti-whaling boat damaged by wave

Stricken Russian boat in 'precarious position'

Google/AFP, 18 December 2011 

The Russian fishing boat Sparta, near the Antarctic ice shelf (AFP/USAF/File)

WELLINGTON — A stricken Russian fishing vessel stranded in icy Antarctic waters was in a "precarious position" Sunday, New Zealand rescuers said two days after the vessel was holed by an iceberg.

The crew of the Sparta had a scare overnight when temporary patches placed over the damaged section of hull failed and the boat began taking on water again.

But several hours later they reported they again had the situation under control.

The Russian-flagged Sparta, with a crew of 32, sent out a distress call early Friday from near the Antarctic ice shelf when it was holed 1.5 metres below the water line and started to list.

It will be several days before rescue ships can make their way through heavy sea ice to reach the vessel about 2,000 nautical miles (3,704 kilometres) southeast of New Zealand.

However, a New Zealand Air Force Hercules was able to fly over the Sparta late Saturday and drop off extra pumping equipment and fuel.

"Sparta remained in a precarious position," New Zealand search and rescue coordinator Dave Wilson said.

"This highlights the importance of the mission in delivering the pumping equipment yesterday. 

This equipment has enabled them to get on top of the water ingress again, and they will now be working to fix the patches more securely."

Wilson said with rescue still days away, the stabilisation work was vital for the vessel and its crew.

"They have life rafts but with the conditions down there, it?s much safer for them if they can wait for rescue on board their vessel."

Two vessels, the Sel Jevaer and Chiyo Maru No 3 were struggling to navigate a circuitous route through the ice and would take several days to reach Sparta?s position.

A South Korean icebreaker, Araon, which was docked in New Zealand, has been commissioned by the Sparta's owners to assist. It set sail early Sunday and will take eight days to reach the area.

A New Zealand fishing boat, San Aspiring, was pulled from the rescue operation on Saturday after advising conditions were too difficult for it to proceed.

"San Aspiring was 470 nautical miles away from Sparta but would have had to travel much further than that to reach the vessel, because there was no direct line through the ice," Wilson said.

"They confirmed the journey would take too long and would potentially put their own crew in danger."

South Korean icebreaker Araon, left, approaches the Russian ship Sparta
which  has been trapped due to an accident, in the Antarctic on Sunday. (EPA Photo)

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