FED: We'll find Japanese whaling fleet - Sea Shepherd captain

AAP General News (Australia)
12-24-2009
FED: We'll find Japanese whaling fleet - Sea Shepherd captain

SYDNEY, Dec 24 AAP - The captain of the Sea Shepherd group's anti-whaling ship says
he is confident he will be able to locate a Japanese whaling fleet, despite a Japanese
security vessel chasing and harassing him and his crew.

Paul Watson, captain of the Steve Irwin, says the Shonan Maru 2 has been harassing
his ship in Antarctic waters for almost a fortnight while it attempts to prevent his crew
from pursuing the Japanese whaling fleet.

The Ady Gil, a 24-metre trimaran speedboat belonging to the Sea Shepherd, met up with
the Steve Irwin on Thursday, and circled the Shonan Maru 2 to create a diversion and help
the Steve Irwin to lose the Japanese ship.

The Steve Irwin then managed to steam ahead of the Shonan Maru 2 by 12 miles but the
security vessel eventually caught up.

Mr Watson says his crew will return to Hobart for fuel, then continue their pursuit
of the Japanese whaling fleet.

"We usually don't find the fleet until the first week of January," he told the Seven
Network on Thursday.

"We are still a week ahead of schedule.

"I'm confident that (the Steve Irwin) will find them ... and I'm sure that we'll cut
into their quotas.

"We've made sure they haven't got their full quotas for three years. They haven't made
a profit for three years.

"They are $100 million in debt.

"And I think that that is the language they understand. We've got to bankrupt them.

we've got to sink them economically."

AAP bc/wjf/dep

KEYWORD: WHALING

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