After the Japan whale poachers' factory ship, the Nisshin Maru (right), had rammed the Sea Shepherd ship, the Steve Irwin, on 20 February 2013, the Steve had to run to avoid further damage from ramming. The Bob Barker (center) took the Steve's place at the port side of the fuel tanker Sun Laurel (left), to blockade any further illegal attempts to refuel the Nisshin Maru. Photo: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

TOKYO, 21 February 2013 (AFP) – Japan vowed to continue its whale hunt in the Southern Ocean after clashes with the militant conservationist Sea Shepherd group, which claimed Tokyo had been forced to end the mission. “We are keeping our whaling programme,” an official at Japan’s Fisheries Agency told AFP on Thursday, denying a report that Japan was forced to suspend its whale hunt after collisions with boats crewed by anti-whaling campaigners. The official also repeated Tokyo’s claim that the conservationists had rammed Japanese whaling ship the Nisshin Maru on Wednesday, their worst confrontation in the Southern Ocean in three years. On Wednesday, the anti-whaling group — which earlier this month lost a battle at the US Supreme Court over an order to steer clear of Japan’s whaling fleet — accused the Japanese side of deliberately colliding with its vessels. Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson told the Australian Associated Press news agency that the whalers were refuelling at sea in an area where such activities are prohibited by an Antarctic treaty. “I feel that this is the end of it,” he was quoted as saying, pointing to the 18 days remaining in the short whaling season and deriding the Japanese fleet’s moves as “like a case of road rage”. A spokesman for Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research said Thursday that the ship could not be refuelled “due to Sea Shepherd’s dangerous activities”. Sea Shepherd is chasing the Japanese fleet hunting whales off Antarctica, as it has done for years in a bid to harass the whalers and prevent the mammals being slaughtered. Australian Environment Minister Tony Burke has described Japan’s whale hunt as cruel and unnecessary but has so far rejected calls to send an Australian government vessel to monitor the hunt. [more]

Japan vows to keep whale hunt after activist clash Here’s some coverage from Japan:

21 February 2013 (Japan Daily Press) – Following Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson’s declaration that Japan will likely stop hunting for the remainder of the season after a clash between the two sides saw a temporary suspension in refueling, Japan made assurances that it will continue its whale hunt in the Southern Ocean. An official at Japan’s Fisheries Agency told Agence France-Presse, “We are keeping our whaling program,” and denied that the collision with Sea Shepherd vessels permanently suspended the hunt for this season. The official repeated the government’s position that it was Sea Shepherd that rammed the Japanese whaling ship, Nisshin Maru, yesterday, marking the worst confrontation between the two in the Southern Ocean in three years. Watson, on the other hand, described how their ships were derided by the Japanese fleet as actions comparable to “a case of road rage.” Meanwhile, Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research, through a spokesman, said that the ship could not be refueled “due to Sea Shepherd’s dangerous activities.” Tony Burke, Australian Environment Minister, describes Japan’s whale hunt as cruel and unnecessary, and yet, the Australian government has remained deaf to calls for a government vessel to monitor the hunt. For its part, Japan says it conducts scientific research, by taking advantage of the loophole in an international ban on whaling agreed at the International Whaling Commission (IWC), but it doesn’t hide that the mammals ultimately end up as food. However, several years ago Sea Shepherd claimed Japan’s whaling fleet hit and sank one of their ships, the Ady Gil, but the accounts of that incident have been repeatedly questioned, with more than a few claims that it was the activists who intentionally hit a Japanese vessel, and then scuttled the remains themselves. [Yeah, right: ]

It may be some time before it becomes clear what actually took place between the two sides this week. Two videos have been released [by the whalers, named “Sea Shepherd Terrorism”] that at least cast doubt on Sea Shepherd’s account of what took place, showing their ships intentionally steering into the path of Japan’s vessels. While they are in Japanese, you can still clearly see the video footage that shows the two sides coming dangerously close to each other, with one even filmed from the deck of one of the Japanese ships. [cf., Captain Watson’s account]

Japan vows to continue its whale hunt after Sea Shepherd collision