Paul Watson: Is South Africa following orders from Japan?

Paul Watson

ABOARD FARLEY MOWAT, CAPE TOWN - After more than three decades of activism on the high seas I have learned one very important fact about interventions against illegal whaling, sealing or fishing.

And that fact is that these ocean raping criminals have plenty of friends in high places and in government offices around the world.

For thirty years I have skippered Sea Shepherd ships. I have commanded hundreds of high seas voyages and I've had the helm through hurricanes and ice packs. But all of the hazards at sea are a pleasure, compared to the nonsensical, arrogant, illogical and ignorant harassment routinely devised by port parasites who exist seemingly for no other reason than to be an obstacle and a nuisance to a mariner.

After 50 days of chasing Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, we fuel was running low so headed for the nearest port, Cape Town.

It's a wonderful place. The people are friendly and the scenery is incredibly beautiful.

But as soon as we entered the port we were ordered detained for not having a Security Certificate. We were told that no one would be allowed ashore until the next day and possibly four days.

Here's the problem: a security certificate is a requirement for - and can only be issued to - commercial vessels. Our ship, the Farley Mowat, is registered in Canada as a pleasure craft – a yacht.

The next morning the ship was boarded by an inspector from the South African Marine Safety Authority (Samsa). He informed me that he had received a request from the Canadian Department of Transport to check specific documents. He refused to show me this request in writing.

He said that I was required to have a Safety Inspection Certificate, a Manning Certificate, and a Security Certificate.

I replied that these certificates were not required for a Canadian yacht. He answered that he did not care and that I had to provide the certificates or else the ship would be detained until the certificates were provided.

The next day the inspector said that in his opinion the ship was a commercial vessel. When we said that our certificate of registry stated that it was a pleasure craft. He said that it was too large to be a yacht. Of course there are many yachts larger than ours.

In June and July last year the ship was in Jacksonville, Florida and these certificates were not requested by the US Coast Guard.

When the ship was in Wellington, New Zealand in November, we had no problem.

When the ship was in Melbourne and Hobart there was no request for these certificates. The ship arrived and departed from Australia without any problem.

In March 2005, the ship was in Halifax, Nova Scotia to oppose the Canadian seal hunt and we were harassed then by the Canadian Department of Trade because they asked us to produce an IOPP Certificate and a Tonnage Certificate. We had previously been told they were not required for a yacht by the Canadian Registrar of Shipping. Now they were. We responded by having the vessel surveyed and the two certificates issued by Canada. In other words we complied immediately.

At that time, Canada did not request a security certificate or a safety inspection certificate because they knew that such certificates were issued to commercial vessels only.

What South Africa is now asking for we would gladly comply with if, it were possible. I could ask Canada to issue these certificates but they would not,  because they cannot issue them to a yacht.

We would like to move the ship to Hout Bay. But Samsa refuses to allow that because Hout Bay is not a recognised security port so cannot receive vessels that require a security certificate.

In the meantime we are being forced to pay a large daily fee for an inadequate dock and for a 24-hour independent security guard.

I have also been informed that Japanese whaling ships have entered the port recently and have quietly taken on fuel and provisions despite a South African law that prohibits any vessel connected with whaling to enter. If this is a fact then there is certainly a double standard in play and it indicates that Japan has the ability to pull strings in the Port of Cape Town.

Japan may believe we are trying to refuel and resupply so that we can return to the Southern Ocean to harass them again and they are pulling strings to have us delayed.

After all, the Japanese deceivers have been doing their best to spin their whaling into some sort of tradition under attack by racist eco-terrorists. According to them, whalers are the victims, and not the whales. And anyone defending the whales is a violent aggressor.

The Japanese government even enlisted the support of the US Naval Intelligence Department to use satellite surveillance to track Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd ships as suspected pirates. And the Americans agreed.

So we will sit it out until it dawns upon Samsa that what they are asking for is impossible.

A yacht is not a commercial vessel. The Farley Mowat is not a ship that is operated for profit. We don't carry cargo or passengers. We don't fish or survey for oil. We don't operate whale watch tours. We don't take people out diving.

A yacht is a vessel operating for recreation and pleasure. In our certificate of registry we are described as a pleasure craft. And what we do is at our pleasure. We are volunteers.

Some people go fishing for pleasure. We harass outlaw fishermen for pleasure.

Some people go whale watching for pleasure. We go watching for whalers for pleasure.

Some people go hunting for pleasure. We hunt whalers and sealers for pleasure.

In fact I derive a great seal of pleasure from defending marine life on the high seas. And thus the Farley Mowat is a genuine pleasure craft.

So what does one do when placed in an impossible situation by bureaucrats? I'm certainly not going to give them the pleasure of stressing me out, irritating me or making me mad.

Instead, I think we will take some pleasure in watching something truly mysterious and unique – a study of the bureaucratic mindset. Perhaps a little digging is in order. Follow the money, see who's pulling the strings. We may as well take advantage of being in Cape Town to investigate just what business whaling ships do when they come to this port.

And we might investigate just what it is that motivate the Samsa inspector to call a yacht a commercial vessel when the certificate of registry states that the ship is a yacht. He seems to value the importance of certificates yet rejects the most important certificate of them all – the Certificate of Registry.

* Paul Watson is president and founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.