Face of Nation : It’s 2013 and the Sea Shepherd crew are deep in the Southern Ocean chasing Japanese whalers.
At the helm of the marine activists’ main vessel, Bob Barker, is 28-year-old captain Peter Hammarstedt. He’s directing crew and angling his ship between the Nisshin Maru — Japan’s whale-carving factory — and a refuelling tanker.
Hammarstedt grabs the radio.”Nisshin Maru this is the Bob Barker. I will not move. You will have to sink me. Back off,” he said.
This is Operation Zero Tolerance, and the Sea Shepherd crew — alongside sister ship Steve Irwin — have been in a cat and mouse chase with the whalers for a few days, trying to disrupt their hunt. They hope if they can stop the refuelling they can stop the killing.
At the time, Japan said it was covered for whaling for scientific purposes. The Sea Shepherd and the Australian Government said this was a flimsy pretence for commercial whaling. “Thrust against them,” Hammarstedt instructs his crew, as he relays that the engine room is taking water.
The Nisshin Maru is pounding them with a water cannon and what look like flashbang grenades are being lobbed their way. As they manoeuvre between the whalers and the tanker the situation suddenly escalates.
“They’ve got us, pushing us into the tanker,” Hammarstedt said, as he jumps on the radio again. “Nisshin Maru — Bob Barker. You are pushing us into the tanker. You’re going to create an environmental mess. Stay clear of me.” Then the crunch comes.
