Japan whale poachers spill oil during illegal refueling operation – ‘The time has come for the Australian government to intervene and put a stop to this insanity’

Desdemona Despair

17 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Australia) – In the early hours of the 17th of February, while the SSS Sam Simon was tailing the South Korean owned Sun Laurel, fuel bunker ship to the Japanese whaling fleet, the Sam Simon crew noticed the smell of diesel fumes coming from the wake of the Sun Laurel, over one mile ahead.

Captain Luis Pinho radioed the Sun Laurel at 3:00 am AEDT, approximately 15 minutes after the Sun Laurel entered Australian Antarctic Territory, informing them that they smelled diesel fumes, could see fuel slicks in the wake of the Sun Laurel, had collected water samples, and would be reporting the Sun Laurel to the authorities.

On the 17th of February at approximately 4:00 pm AEDT the Sam Simon recorded an audio transmission between the Captain and Bosun of the Sun Laurel – the Japanese whaling fleet’s refuelling vessel. In this recording, the Captain of the Sun Laurel refers to the oil spill that the Sam Simon had documented and collected samples of hours earlier. The Sun Laurel Captain informed his Bosun to take care covering refuelling hoses, and that if oil dropped into the water there would be a “big problem”, as the Sam Simon had caught the Sun Laurel leaking fuel into the wake behind them earlier that morning.

Sea Shepherd Australia believes this transmission is further proof of an oil spill by the Sun Laurel in Antarctica’s pristine waters, and has reported the incident to Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

The Sun Laurel is in direct violation of international law. Marpol Regulation 15 Subpart B, Discharge in Special Areas Point 4 states: “In respect of the Antarctic area, any discharge into the sea of oil or oily mixtures from any ship shall be prohibited.”  In addition, The Sun Laurel has failed to issue a statement on their spill to AMSA, which puts them in breach of MARPOL’S Pollution Incident Reporting Regulations. Marpol 73/78 is the International Maritime Organisation’s Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships, to which all sea-going vessels are bound.

Japanese Whaling Fleet Oil Tanker Spill Confirmed

BREAKING NEWS ** GRAVE CONCERNS FOR MASSIVE OIL SPILL **
Sea Shepherd Australia Appeals to all Government and Regulatory Parties:
Update from Jeff Hansen, Director of Sea Shepherd Australia

19 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Australia) – The South Korean-owned, Panamanian registered Sun Laurel, a vessel that has already spilt oil into the sea below 60 degrees and inside the Australian Antarctic Territorial waters is attempting to refuel the Nisshin Maru with heavy fuel oil (HFO). This is a violation of the Antarctic Treaty and a violation of Australian law and a violation of International law (MARPOL). We are deeply concerned of the potential for a massive oil spill and ecological disaster in the pristine Antarctic wilderness, off Australia’s Antarctic coast in Australian waters.

At this stage the Sun Laurel has been unsuccessful at refuelling the Nisshin Maru, as the Sea Shepherd Australia Fleet has managed to block whale poachers’ illegal attempts at refuelling.

To our knowledge, the Sun Laurel has never navigated down in the ice before. However in the early hours of this morning, the Sun Laurel went into the ice, just 15 miles off the ice shelf, and was surrounded by pack ice and ice floes.

The Sun Laurel entered the ice at around 2am AEDT when it was light, however it had to use spot lights to get its way out as it was getting dark. The current position of the Sam Simon is ¬ 65 degrees 52 minutes South ¬ 080 degrees, 28 minutes East or about 150 miles NE of Australia’s Davis base, just off Penguin Island.

The Steve Irwin and Sam Simon maintain position on the Sun Laurel, while the Bob Barker is on the slip way of the Nisshin Maru. All three harpoon ships are currently circling the group, blasting the ships with water cannons, trying to bully a path through the ice for the Nisshin Maru. The Sea Shepherd Australia ships are holding positions. The Yushin Maru 3 has been firing its ultra high-powered water cannon at the Sam Simon’s radar. The Shonan Maru 2, the armed Japanese Coast Guard vessel is quickly moving in.

Captain Siddharth Chakravarty aboard the Steve Irwin has said, “This situation has gone too far. The recklessness of the Japanese Whaling Fleet and the Sun Laurel have put Antarctica’s rich environment at grave risk for an ecological nightmare. The time has come for the Australian government to intervene and put a stop to this insanity.”

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society