SYDNEY (AP) — A conservation group says one of its boats is sinking after a collision with a Japanese whaling ship in Antarctica.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said Wednesday its boat Ady Gil — a high-tech speed boat that resembles a stealth bomber — had its bow sheared off in the clash near Commonwealth Bay.
Locky Maclean, aboard the group’s main ship which is in the area, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Ady Gil’s crew had been safely transferred to the group’s third vessel in the area. Japanese officials were not immediately available to comment.
The Sea Shepherd group sends boats to frigid Antarctic waters each year to try to stop the Japanese whaling fleet killing whales under what it calls a scientific program.