Sea Shepherd incident

[Guest guest]

I have just been reviewing the Sea Shepherd video of the

latest collision between a Sea Shepherd vessel and the Japanese

whale-catcher Yushin Maru #3.

 

This one is not as unequivocal as the ramming of the Ady Gil,

which eventually sank after the Yushin Maru #3 cut off the bow. Both

the Sea Shepherd and Japanese video of that incident appear to me to

clearly show that the Yushin Maru #3 just ran down the Ady Gil,

which was dead in the water.

 

A jerk of the camera seems to show the Ady Gil lurching ahead

suddenly, just before the impact, but after looking at that video

several times I was satisfied that the Ady Gil had not actually moved

much, if at all, and that the Yushin Maru #3 could easily have

avoided the collision.

 

The video of the collision between the Yushin Maru #3 and the

Bob Barker opens with the Yushin Maru #3 racing with apparent intent

to cut off the Bob Barker's pursuit of the factory ship Nisshin Maru.

The Nisshin Maru is in sight ahead, and remains in sight throughout

most of the video.

 

The position of the Nisshin Maru relative to the Bob Barker

does not change. This demonstrates that the Bob Barker maintained a

straight course.

 

The Yushin Maru #3, however, backs off as it appears to

have been outraced: if it continued at the diagonal angle it was

pursuing, at the speed it was going, it would have crossed in front

of the Bob Barker, which could not have stopped in time to avoid

ramming the Yushin Maru #3 broadside.

 

The Yushin Maru #3 then turns parallel to the Bob Barker,

and continues turning to the right, away from the Bob Barker. As it

turns, the stern of the Yushin Maru #3 swings into the side of the

Bob Barker.

 

This is a tough call, because everything I see appears as if

it could have happened by accident. If the Yushin Maru #3 had

intended to ram the Bob Barker, it could have simply backed off the

speed instead of turning. Deliberately courting a stern impact seems

nonsensical, since the stern is where the propellers are, and a

stern impact could have disabled the Yushin Maru #3, without doing

much harm to the Bob Barker, since the Bob Barker had the greater

momentum.

 

What it all really looks like to me is like a freeway

incident in which one car tries to pass another, doesn't have enough

clearance, and swerves back to its own lane too late to avoid a

glancing impact.

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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