Neptune's Navy

Two of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships, the MY Steve Irwin (left) and the MY Bob Barker (right), here both docked in Hobart.

Neptune's Navy is the name that the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society uses to refer to the ships it operates. Most of these vessels are used to disrupt or hinder fishing, whaling or sealing operations that the group considers illegal.^[1]

Fleet

Past

One of Sea Shepherd's former ships, the RV Farley Mowat in Melbourne, Australia. It was impounded by Canada, and Sea Shepherd refused to reclaim the aging vessel.

The group has historically operated a number of vessels.^[1] The Ocean Warrior, later renamed the RV Farley Mowat was purchased in 1996 but seized by the Canadian government in April 2008.^[2] Due to the age of the vessel, the Society has decided not to pursue any avenue of reacquiring it. Paul Watson in fact stated that they had intentionally utilised a vessel that had become too old for Sea Shepherd to keep in action further.^[3]

In June 2009 Sea Shepherd announced that the trimaran Earthrace, later renamed Ady Gil, would accompany its 2009–10 operations against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Pete Bethune, the operator of the vessel, said that an agreement was reached with Sea Shepherd for the boat to adopt a support role.^[4] On October 17, 2009, the Earthrace was presented to the media with a new black paint job, and renamed Ady Gil, after the name of a major sponsor. On January 6, 2010 the vessel was badly damaged in a collision at sea with the Japanese vessel Shōnan Maru 2.^[5] The Ady Gil sank on January 8 while she was being towed towards the French Dumont d'Urville Station in Antarctica after it filled with water and became too heavy to tow. The financial loss was estimated at about $1.5 million.^[6]

One of Sea Shepherd former boats, the MY Ady Gil in Hobart, Tasmania. The vessel sank after a collision with a Japanese whaler under disputed circumstances.

Current

As of 2016, the conservation society operates eight ships, the MY Steve Irwin, MV Brigitte Bardot, the MY Bob Barker, the MY Sam Simon, the RV Martin Sheen, the MY Jairo Mora Sandoval, a new MY Farley Mowat, and the MY Jules Verne.^[15][16][17] The Steve Irwin was obtained in 2006 and originally called the Robert Hunter. It was renamed in honor of Australian Steve Irwin ("The Crocodile Hunter").^[18] Terri Irwin, his widow, gave her support to Sea Shepherd, saying, "Whales have always been in Steve's heart and in 2006 he was investigating the possibility of joining the Sea Shepherd on part of its journey to defend these beautiful animals."^[19]

The other ship, the 1200-tonne Bob Barker, was named after famous television game-show host and animal activist Bob Barker, who made the purchase of the retired Norwegian whaling vessel possible with a donation of US$5 million.^[20] This ship and the Irwin were both given new dazzle paint jobs in 2011. They are easier to tell apart now since the Irwin has a 77 painted on its bow and the Bob Barker has the old "cartoon shark mouth" design on its bow.

Sea Shepherd acquired the Ocean 7 Adventurer for its 2011 campaign against Japanese whaling in the Antarctic, renaming it MV Gojira.^[21] However, after a legal claim, Sea Shepherd have renamed the MV Gojira and the vessel is now known as MV Brigitte Bardot.^[22] On December 29, 2011 the vessel was damaged by a 6 m (20 ft) rogue wave whilst pursuing the Japanese whaling fleet during Operation Divine Wind off the western coast of Australia. The main hull was cracked and the port side pontoon needed to be held together by straps.^[23] In response to this incident and new tactics employed by the Japanese whaling fleet, Paul Watson has stated that he intends to procure more vessels to prevent themselves being outnumbered and shorthanded in future engagements. To this end, Sea Shepherd acquired the 56 m (184 ft) long MY Sam Simon in June 2012, the vessel being named after the co-creator of The Simpsons who made a sizable donation to finance the vessel's purchase. Sam Simon was formerly operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency at the Maizuru Marine Laboratory under the name Seifu Maru.^[24]

In January 2015, Sea Shepherd USA purchased two recently decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard patrol vessels. They are considerably faster than the other ships, with a top speed of 30 knots. These two ships are both 110-foot (34 m) Island-class patrol boats and have been named MY Jules Verne and MY Farley Mowat.^[25]

MV Brigitte Bardot docked in Circular Quay, Sydney

New boat

On January 26, 2015, at the annual Goed Geld Gala (Good Money Gala) in Amsterdam, Sea Shepherd received a donation of €8.3 million ($9.4 million) to purchase a new vessel for Sea Shepherd's submitted dream project "Stop Illegal Fishing in the Southern Ocean". The vessel was built by Dutch ship builder Damen in Turkey,^[31] with a final cost of $12 million.^[32]

This custom-built ship is a Damen Stan patrol vessel 50 m long and 9 m wide. It was christened MY Ocean Warrior and it was launched in September 2016.^[33][34] The Ocean Warrior has four engines capable of a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h), so it can outrun any ship in Japan's whaling fleet; it is also equipped with additional long-range fuel tanks.^[32] Its maiden voyage is due to be part of the 2016-2017 Operation Nemesis in the Southern Ocean.

Other watercraft

The group has also operated smaller boats in its campaigns including jet skis, Delta RHIB and Zodiac inflatables deployed off of the larger vessels. In 1999 Sea Shepherd briefly obtained a small personal submarine in hopes of using it against tribal whalers. The sub however was never fully functional and Sea Shepherd decided to sell it instead for an undisclosed price.^[1][35]

Aircraft

In addition to their maritime assets, Sea Shepherd also operates several types of aircraft from their ships; these have included Sikorsky S-300 and MD 500 helicopters which typically are carried aboard the Steve Irwin, unmanned drones, and a microlight aircraft that was briefly used during their campaign in the Faroe Islands. The aircraft are used to conduct forward reconnaissance to search for targets beyond visual range, as well as to monitor operations once a target is acquired.

Registration concerns

Sea Shepherd flag flying on the RV Farley Mowat.

The vessels being engaged in controversial activities has caused registration issues with multiple governments, and the ships of the fleet have flown the flags of several different nations.^{[36][37][38][39][40]}

In August 2006, the Farley Mowat had its registration revoked by Canada. Later that year, Japan requested that the United Kingdom strip the Robert Hunter of its flag and for Belize to strip the Farley Mowat of hers. The Robert Hunter was removed from the shipping registers of the United Kingdom since its activities were "inconsistent with her status as a pleasure vessel."^[37] The International Merchant Marine Registry of Belize withdrew the use of the nation's flag after finding the Farley Mowat was not being used as a pleasure craft and stated that "it could not condone acts that threatened life and property at sea."^[38] The Mohawk Traditional Council of Kahnawake offered support and flags of the Iroquois Confederacy to fly on the Farley Mowat and the Robert Hunter.^[36]

In early 2010, the Bob Barker briefly falsely flew a Norwegian flag with the intent to deceive Japanese whalers.^[39]

The Steve Irwin now sails under the Dutch flag,^[41] but legislation was introduced to ban the group from using it.^[40] However, the junior transport minister later noted that there was no further intention of deregistering the Steve Irwin.^[42] In February 2010, however, after repeated requests by Japan, a new bill was introduced which would modify the registry law to allow ships to be struck from the registry if their conduct harmed the Netherlands' reputation.^[43]

Also in February 2010, Japan announced that Togo had struck the Bob Barker from its registry.^[44] The Bob Barker has since been re-registered in the Netherlands.^[45]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships.