the end?
On 5 January 2010, the Ady Gil, with five crew and a cameraman on board, was deliberately rammed by the Shonan Maru #2, slicing off the entire bow almost up to the cockpit. Despite calls for help, the Japanese refused to come to the aid of the Ady Gil and continued to bombard them with water cannon.
Luckily, the Sea Shepherd vessel, the Bob Barker, was close by and was able to pick up the crew. But they were unable to salvage the Ady Gil, which sunk two days later.
You can view a selection of videos from youtube of the Ady Gil and of the collision here.
On 15 February, skipper Pete Bethune boarded the Shonan Maru at night, jumping on board from a jet ski. He intended to carry out a citizen's arrest of the captain, Hiroyuki Komiya, and present him with a US $3 million bill for the loss of the Ady Gil.
Pete was held on board the Japanese ship, and returned to Japan to face a trial on five charges: trespass, causing injuries, forcible obstruction of business, destruction of property and illegal possession of a knife (a pocket knife used by Bethune to cut the anti-boarding net on the Shonan Maru #2).
On the advice of his legal team, when the trial started on 27 May 2010, Pete didn’t plead guilty but he did acknowledge four of the charges. However, he strongly refuted the charge of injuring a Japanese crew member. Pete maintained that any injuries the man received were self-inflicted from the use of his own pepper spray. The first phase of the trial ended on 3 June.
While Pete was awaiting sentencing, Chuck Swift, Deputy CEO of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society announced that Pete was no longer a member or a representative of their organisation because he carried a bow and arrows on board the Ady Gil. This was ‘absolutely not in line with Sea Shepherd’s policy’.
Chuck continued, “Even though we know Captain Bethune’s objectives were sincere, that the bow and arrows were never used in Sea Shepherd actions and that he certainly never intended to use the bow and arrows against any person, his decision to bring them on a Sea Shepherd campaign is unacceptable”. http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/editorial-100604-1.html
Luckily, the Sea Shepherd vessel, the Bob Barker, was close by and was able to pick up the crew. But they were unable to salvage the Ady Gil, which sunk two days later.
You can view a selection of videos from youtube of the Ady Gil and of the collision here.
On 15 February, skipper Pete Bethune boarded the Shonan Maru at night, jumping on board from a jet ski. He intended to carry out a citizen's arrest of the captain, Hiroyuki Komiya, and present him with a US $3 million bill for the loss of the Ady Gil.
Pete was held on board the Japanese ship, and returned to Japan to face a trial on five charges: trespass, causing injuries, forcible obstruction of business, destruction of property and illegal possession of a knife (a pocket knife used by Bethune to cut the anti-boarding net on the Shonan Maru #2).
On the advice of his legal team, when the trial started on 27 May 2010, Pete didn’t plead guilty but he did acknowledge four of the charges. However, he strongly refuted the charge of injuring a Japanese crew member. Pete maintained that any injuries the man received were self-inflicted from the use of his own pepper spray. The first phase of the trial ended on 3 June.
While Pete was awaiting sentencing, Chuck Swift, Deputy CEO of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society announced that Pete was no longer a member or a representative of their organisation because he carried a bow and arrows on board the Ady Gil. This was ‘absolutely not in line with Sea Shepherd’s policy’.
Chuck continued, “Even though we know Captain Bethune’s objectives were sincere, that the bow and arrows were never used in Sea Shepherd actions and that he certainly never intended to use the bow and arrows against any person, his decision to bring them on a Sea Shepherd campaign is unacceptable”. http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/editorial-100604-1.html
There was outrage on the internet from supporters of Pete and supporters of the SSCS not only because of the timing, but also because it was clear from numerous sources (including a preview from the 2010 season of Whale Wars and footage shot of Pete before he and the Ady Gil left for Antarctica where Pete openly discusses taking the bow and arrows on board) that the SSCS knew all about it in advance.
The fury from their supporters was felt by the SSCS to the extent that two days later, a follow-up announcement had to be released direct from Paul Watson.
In this statement, Watson tries to explain that they made the decision to help Pete’s sentencing, by showing that he would not return to the anti-whaling campaign in the future. The new statement was greeted with some scepticism and there were calls for Pete to start up his own organisation on his release.
On 7 July, Pete was found guilty of all five charges, sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for five years. Later that week, he was deported from Japan, arriving back in Auckland, NZ on 10 July.
so is that the end of the story?
Search on Google for 'Ady Gil collision'...or 'rammed'...or 'sunk', and you'll find well over 4 million links to items of news for each search. There are millions more documenting the journey of Earthrace. There are also pages on facebook, petitions, photoblogs on flickr, hundreds of videos on youtube...
So at least our beautiful boat went down continuing to create news across the globe, drawing attention the scurilous practice of whaling (in the name of 'research') and to our own human impact on our environment. Job done!
The story isn't over though. To date, no-one has been held responsible for the sinking of the Ady Gil as the Japanese have refused to cooperate with either the Australian or the NZ Maritime Authority investigations.
Will a new Ady Gil ever be built?
Will Pete start up his own eco-organisation (although it could be said that he already has his own as the whole Earthrace project that he started back in 2005 was dedicated to helping the environment by increasing awareness of the use of renewable fuels and sustainable living)?
We’ll keep you posted! Or you can check out the latest gossip on the various facebook pages that have been set up by supporters:
Will a new Ady Gil ever be built?
Will Pete start up his own eco-organisation (although it could be said that he already has his own as the whole Earthrace project that he started back in 2005 was dedicated to helping the environment by increasing awareness of the use of renewable fuels and sustainable living)?
We’ll keep you posted! Or you can check out the latest gossip on the various facebook pages that have been set up by supporters:
