Stuff > Story

Japanese whalers allegedly took 'hostages'

By MICHAEL FIELD - Fairfax Media | Tuesday, 15 January 2008

Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say

A Japanese whaling boat in the Southern Ocean has allegedly seized two protesters and taken them hostage by tying them to a radar mast.

The claim came in tonight from the radical anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd which has a boat, Steve Irwin, trailing the Japanese fleet.

In a statement Sea Shepherd said two protesters, Australian Benjamin Potts and Briton Giles Lane, were being held hostage aboard the Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru No 2.

The two men had boarded the Japanese boat to deliver a protest note.

Instead, Sea Shepherd claimed, the Japanese tied them to the radar mast.

Yushin Maru's skipper refused a request for the two to be released.

The letter given to the Japanese said the two men had boarded the whaler "because you have refused to acknowledge communication from our ship pertaining to your illegal activities in the waters of the Australian Antarctic Territorial Economic Exclusion Zone.

"I am not boarding your ship with the intent to commit a crime, to rob you or to inflict injury upon your crew and yourself or damage to your ship," the letter said.

The were delivering the message and then "request that you allow me to disembark from your vessel without harm or seizure."

The Japanese have yet to give their side of the story.

Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say

Next Story: American tourist admits driving death
- More Stuff Stories