Japanese set up collision, says expert

The collision in the Southern Ocean

Japan has accused Greenpeace of ramming its whaling ship in the Southern Ocean and then selectively editing video coverage of the collision for the world's media.

But a maritime law expert believes the video footage shows the Japanese set up the collision - which has led to an escalating diplomatic row between Japan, New Zealand and Australia - so they could blame it on the protesters.

Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research director-general Hiroshi Hatanaka said video taken from the Nisshin Maru showed the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise could have avoided the collision on Sunday but instead turned hard to port.

"The skipper turned the boat into the path of the Nisshin Maru and rammed us at our weakest point," he said.

"It was a deliberate action to get media coverage."

However, Australian maritime law expert Dr Eric Wilson, of Monash University, Melbourne, said the Arctic Sunrise was set up for the collision by the clever skipper of the Nisshin Maru. "By executing a 360-degree turn at exactly the moment he did, he created a situation where the Greenpeace vessel could not but strike the Japanese vessel.

"But at the same time, it was Greenpeace who rammed the Nisshin Maru and not the Nisshin Maru which rammed the Greenpeace vessel.

"The skipper artificially set up the obstacle so it was the Greenpeace vessel which physically collided with the Nisshin Maru ... physically, materially, Greenpeace executed the ramming action."

Dr Wilson said neither party could be arrested upon returning to port but there was an excellent chance that if the Greenpeace vessel docked in a Japanese port it would be impounded pending legal action. Meanwhile, Japan called on Canada and Netherlands to take control of anti-whaling protest boats in the Southern Oceans to stop the clashes between the vessels and whaling ships.

Japan has warned that if the confrontations continue to escalate it will send police aircraft to the Antarctic waters to protect its fleet.

Mr Moronuki said Canada and Netherlands were responsible for the actions of the protest ships because the two Greenpeace vessels were registered in the Netherlands and the Sea Shepherd ship was Canadian.

New Zealander Phil Lloyd, who is aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, told the Herald yesterday via satellite phone that the New Zealand and Australian Governments needed to put more resources into patrolling the whale sanctuary.