Whalers confirm NZ protester wounded

Pete Bethune. File photo / Oamaru Mail

CANBERRA - Japanese whalers have confirmed a New Zealand protester who boarded one of their ships has received medical attention for a knife-wound on his left hand.

Pete Bethune clambered aboard the Shonan Maru 2 on Monday morning to stage a citizen's arrest of its skipper, despite the Japanese ship being hung with nets and anti-boarding spikes.

Captain Bethune, who was the skipper of the sunken protest vessel the Ady Gill, wants the whalers to face attempted murder charges.

He had waited for the Shonan Maru 2 ship early on Monday morning on a jet ski, being driven by another protester, under the cover of darkness.

The incident occurred in international waters between Heard Island and Antarctica.

Last night, Japan's pro-whaling Institute of Cetacean Research issued a statement saying Captain Bethune cut his hand while climbing aboard its vessel.

"Mr Bethune illegally boarded the Shonan Maru 2 ... after using a knife to cut the vessel's protection net," the institute said.

"At that time, Mr Bethune cut his left thumb and has since received medical treatment from the Japanese crew.

"The Ady Gill skipper told the crew that, after boarding the Shonan Maru 2, he had thrown the knife into the sea."

The institute also claimed that Captain Bethune was "restrained" by the captain of the Shonan Maru 2 "in line with the Japanese Mariners Act" and was now "being held in custody on board".

The Japanese whaling fleet and protesters have been locked in a tense struggle in Antarctic waters this summer.

Commercial whaling is banned internationally, but Japan is allowed to hunt hundreds of whales a year in the name of scientific research.

- AAP