MEDIA RELEASE
20 February 2013
Sea Shepherd vessels sabotage Nisshin Maru refueling and provoke collisions
On February 20 around 1100JST until about 1200JST during refueling operations, theAntarctic whale research (JARPAII) mother ship Nisshin Maru (NM) and her supply
tanker were subject to sabotage by the Sea Shepherd (SS) ships Steve Irwin (SI), Bob
Barker (BB) and Sam Simon (SmS). The SI and BB are sailing under the flag of theNetherlands while the SmS has Australian registry.
1. As the NM was about to come alongside her supply tanker for refueling, SS vessels,SI, BB and SmS, in foolhardy obstruction attempts, repeatedly came at close-quarter
distance with the NM and the supply tanker. During their obstruction to refueling
operations the SS vessels provoked several collisions (at the least: SI once; BB
twice, SmS once) with the NM. The BB collided with the supply tanker too.
2. There were no injuries to the crews of research vessels including NM and the supplytanker. However, the NM suffered denting damage and broken hand railing on herbow section while the supply tanker port side hull was dented and her hand railingwas damaged. Both vessels’ ability for navigation was not affected by thesedamages.
3. During the attack, the NM used her water pump as a preventive measure to make SSvessels refrain from further approaching and repeatedly broadcasted a warning
message to stop them. However, the NM decided to interrupt her refueling operation
attempts judging from difficulty due to the extremely dangerous behavior of the SSvessels.
zOn 17 December 2012 the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an Injunction
Order enjoining Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson and anyone acting in concert with themfrom physically attacking the Japanese research vessels or any person on them andfrom navigating in a manner that is likely to endanger the safe navigation at sea ofany such vessel. The Injunction Order also prohibits them from approaching any
vessel engaged by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) or Kyodo Senpaku(KS) any closer than 500 yards (about 457 meters) when the research vessels arenavigating on the open sea.

zThe ICR and KS filed a Motion for Contempt against Sea Shepherd forapproaching the research vessels last January in violation of the U.S. Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals Injunction Order. The ICR and KS will provide the Court withadditional evidence concerning the 15 and 20 February obstruction actions by SeaShepherd.

zJapan’s research whaling in the Antarctic (JARPAII) is a perfectly legal activity
carried out under the International Whaling Convention for the Regulation ofWhaling (ICRW). This time, SS sabotaged refueling operation which is essential forthe safe navigation of ships. Thus it threatens safety of our research ships and livesof crews on it and is therefore unacceptable. Over and over again, we call on all
related countries including the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand which areflag states and/or port State of SS vessels, and United States in which headquarterof SS is based to take every measure available to restrain them and deal with theircriminal actions in a strict and objective manner.

zSS’s allegations that there was oil spillage during the research vessels refueling
operations are unfounded. Refueling from the supply tanker to the research vessels
is safely conducted through a hermetically sealed fuel transfer system, making
leakage impossible. SS’s allegations and rumors about the supply tanker hitting
icebergs and oil spilling are equally unfounded.

zAn International Treaty establishes specific standards regarding the type of fuel oils
that can be used or carried in the Antarctic Ocean. The fuel being carried by theAntarctic research vessels’ supply tanker fulfils those specific standards and there isno breach of any international treaty regulations.

NOTE: Images to be attributed to THE INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH,
TOKYO, JAPAN (http://www.icrwhale.org/gpandsea.html)
END