Greenpeace 'rammed' by Japanese whaler

The Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise seconds before the collision yesterday. Picture / Crew of Nisshin Maru, Institute of Cetacean Research

Crew on a Greenpeace ship say they feared for their lives when struck by a larger vessel being used by a Japanese whaling operation in the Southern Ocean yesterday.

The crew of the Arctic Sunrise had been painting the words "Whale meat from sanctuary" on to the side of a supply vessel that was tied alongside the whaling fleet's mother ship, the Nisshin Maru, yesterday afternoon shortly before the collision happened.

Greenpeace and Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) versions of the incident conflict, with the ICR claiming it was the Greenpeace vessel that deliberately rammed its ship while it was attempting to refuel from the supply vessel.

Greenpeace expedition leader Shane Rattenbury told NZPA that crew in inflatable rafts had been using rollers on poles to daub the supply boat, which was loading up with whale meat from the Nisshin Maru, when the larger vessel separated itself and allegedly came for the Arctic Sunrise.

"When the Nisshin Maru pulled away it executed an almost 360-degree circle to come around the rear of the supply vessel to seek out the Arctic Sunrise. There was absolutely no need for it to make that move ... it did that full circle and came for the Sunrise."

Mr Rattenbury was on the bridge during the incident, which happened when the vessels were midway between Australia and South Africa.

The Arctic Sunrise is about 50 metres long; the Nisshin Maru about 130m and six times heavier.

"To see that vessel bearing down on us was really quite a frightening experience, not knowing what the consequences of the collision would be," Mr Rattenbury said.

He thought the Arctic Sunrise might be tipped over and feared the crew of 25 would not last long in the 0-degree waters.

"That certainly flashed through my mind ... none of us were in survival gear because this all happened in five or six minutes."

Greenpeace said the supply ship was the tanker Oriental Bluebird which had refuelled the whaling fleet a few days ago, but then returned to the whalers yesterday and tied up to the Nisshin Maru.

"Its arrival puzzled us because we had just seen the whalers refuel a few days ago. Then we saw them transferring boxes labelled "kujira" [whale] from the Nisshin Maru to the tanker, which it turns out was really a sort of half tanker / half refrigerated cargo ship combination - a rare thing," wrote Andrew on the Greenpeace blog.

Hiroshi Hatanaka, director-general of ICR, said another group, Sea Shepherd, also had a boat in the area at the time of the incident.

He said the Nisshin Maru was refuelling and crew did not know what the people in inflatables had been doing and were concerned they may be attaching a bomb.

"Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd are working together, and this concerns us greatly," Dr Hatanaka said.

The incident happened the same day that Japan Whaling Association President Keiichi Nakajima hit out at critics of his country's actions, saying that killing whales was good for science - an argument that Conservation Minister Chris Carter described as absurd.

- NZPA