Japanese ship caused collision
Southern Ocean Thursday, 12 January, 2006 : In response to the posting of video footage of the Nisshin Maru/Arctic
Sunrise ramming incident on the internet, Greenpeace reiterates that the larger ship was at fault.
“The Japanese whalers have a history of ramming our ships and claiming victim. In 1999, the international Lloyd's (ship)
Register recorded that, in a similar incident, the Nisshin Maru had in fact rammed a Greenpeace vessel after claiming in
the media that Greenpeace was the aggressor,”said Greenpeace CEO Steve Shallhorn.
“The footage just released by the Japanese Whaling Association clearly shows the 8000 ton Nisshin Maru bearing from Port
to Starboard across the bow of the 1000 ton Arctic Sunrise, moving much faster than the Greenpeace ship,” said
Shallhorn.
“According to International maritime law, the starboard vessel, the Arctic Sunrise had the right of way. We fully expect
official investigation to concur with the Greenpeace version of the event, as Lloyd's Register did after a similar
ramming incident in 1999,” said Shallhorn.
“The Japanese Whaling Association is taking every conceivable action other than doing what the rest of the world wants
them to do, which is stop whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary,” concludes Shallhorn.