Ady Gil (Earthrace) Sunk By Japanese Whalers

Nonsence

I have never seen a boat being hand steered in quartering seas NOT zig and zag.

Also, AG had no problem put it in reverse PDQ after the collision. AG could have gone full astern (instead going from DIW to slow ahead) prior to collision and escaped unharmed. Remember, in the event of a collision, there is no right of way, as per COLREGS Part B - Section II - Paragraph 17.

Fear not - Tree huggers and PETA members the world over are passing around their wool free berets taking collections for the next great adventure.

BTW - If I run down a Somali pirate in an open seaway, is that a bad thing?

If you are under attack it is your duty to protect your crew the best way you decide. If you are effective, you are ok. If you have a .50 cal Barret and can shoot them before they can shoot you, that's good as well. Shoulder launched rockets, chain saw them with a mini gun.... all good. Common fallacy I hear is that it is against "international law" (there is no International Law, only Conventions) for merchant and private vessels to be armed at sea. No such thing, you are only limited at sea by what your flag state will sanction you to carry. US flag vessels actually have good options here. Port State controls vary, but there is always a system in place to clear in and out with declared firearms.

Hi,

Looks like the pull of gravity was stronger than the reserve bouyancy.

I wonder if they were towing it forwards or backwards?

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/3215007/Crushed-anti-whaling-ship-Ady-Gil-sinks

looks like the Australian Gov are going to take legal action if the whaling hasnt stopped in 6 months...
the head guy from the sea shephard (whatever his name is), didnt he get shot in one of those eps on NatGeo...? im pretty sure the Jap whalers hate him with a passion, and if had the Opportunity would ram his boat, which he knows, and feel aload...?

far

Hi,

That is a pretty safe political statement- The current season will be over by then so whaling will have stopped in the Southern Ocean, did the ex Musician who is the Environment Minister happen to say if they would pursue it if the whaling started again next season?

Next time they decide to terrorize a Whaling ship maybe they should use an unsinkable boat like a BOSTON WHALER. ;-)
Oh, well maybe not.....

Certainly not one I was driving. I guess quartering seas is accurate. In the video taken from the MV Bob Barker it looks more like a head sea. It's odd because in the photos just after the incident the sea looks almost calm yet in the Sea Shepherd video the Shonan Maru looks to be ploughing through some pretty big seas. I'm assuming there were big swells on an otherwise calm ocean but really don't know how to explain the disparity. My comment about the wake was mainly to stir up discussion. I've been lurking on this site for two years and while I have some boating experience on yachts to 60' and shrimp boats to 70' it's nothing compared to many on here.

There's another video...

Shot from the Ady Gil before impact...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfGM-LzGKjc

For the record, Capt. Pete wasn't at the wheel.

The Ady Gil, half sunk, abandoned, and adrift.
Video takes a while to load.

http://www.icrwhale.org/eng/100108SS.wmv

Here they are crossing the whaler's bow very close while dragging a rope to try and foul their prop..

http://www.icrwhale.org/eng/091223SS8.wmv

This site had the bogus "research" stuff but has lots of videos from the Japanese.

This site posted by someone else earlier in this thread.
icrwhale.org

If you ask me, these guys were "asking for it"

no comment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hsB5IqO-dw

Sorry for the multiple posts but I keep finding more relevant videos
This one has split screen synch of the Jap and Shep viewpoints.
The comments are interesting too...
Similar discussion we are having here "kind of"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vVRcCas0o0&annotation_id=annotation_318076&feature=iv

That's actually really good. You can see what the AG tried to do was throttle up to get in front and the Japanese Captain wasn't having any of it and turned to take her. Freakin hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDsZcLVXyn8&feature=related

Interesting video from the Ady Gil. I think a lot of the dialog is for the camera. In the last moments before the collision one or several people can be heard shouting, "Whoa, whoa, whoa". So the question is are they directing that at the Shonan Maru or to the driver of the Ady Gil when they hear the engines throttle up?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfGM-LzGKjc

Yeah, we know, it's what Paul does, it always has been, he makes no bones about it. His mission is to inflict enough economic damage that it makes the activity unappealing, and hopefully, uninsurable. He does what no state is doing. Nobody else (well, a couple Scandinavian countries, and the Alaskan Eskimo/Inuit who also legally hunt whale in US waters) really likes what the Japanese are doing in the Southern Ocean, but in the larger scale of things, it's not an important issue to them which is why concessions were written into conventions for the research exemptions which the Japanese are working under. But here comes Paul Watson who says "f- that, I'll take em on" and since most of the people don't support the whaling, they give it a "Go for it, all yours...". He basically gets free reign to prosecute his battle. Since Aus in general is a bunch of hippies, and the gov't has a claim against the Japanese, they offer him port of refuge. Southern Ocean Whales were not Sea Sheppards original cause. I remember when he was ramming drift net boats.

His MO doesn't change, he's not stupid, he understands he will take casualties. Normally he runs with big steel boats, bows filled with concrete. The AG was being operated in a grandstanding dramatic fashion and not to maximize it's tactical impact.

It seems to me, That the Japanese could had done more damage to the attacking party than to what had actually been done.

(Please do not think that I am in support of killing whales)

Henning THAT is FUNNY!
So we Aussies (I've been one since '82 from Rhodesia/Zambia) are hippies? Makes my day! or as Cheech would say "hayy man, that is awesome!"
In fact the Hippies are not what we need. Real people is what we need. Paul, like him or not, has incredible courage as I bet you agree. Long before this became "popular" he was way out there and he WILL WIN this argument. The whale meat is sold for school lunches and pet food, it is stockpiled and in over supply. It is only a matter of time before the whalers are gone, with Paul's "help". As a Hippie Aussie I would invite Paul into my home, plus crew anyday, just for the discussion.

Harpooning for research

Time for levity from the Aussie Hippyies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AILT5qumfEg