MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Environmentalists held on Japanese whaling vessel

Two members of the conservation organization Sea Shepherd are being held on a Japanese whaling boat they boarded last night in Antarctic waters. According to the group the two men, a Briton and an Australian, boarded the Yushin Maru No. 2, to deliver a message that its whaling activities are illegal.

Sea Shepherd claims the men were tied to a mast and are still being held on board. Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research denies the two men were tied up and says the protesters threw bottles of acid onto the ship's deck. It says the two men have been detained in an office while a decision is made about what to do with them. Sea Shepherd spokesperson, Christine Vasic, says the group has a right to try to stop whaling activities. "The United Nations World Charter on Nature does give individuals and non-governmental organizations the right to police and stop those illegal activities and that's what out vessel is down there to do," she says. "They have requested the whaling vessel... cease and to desist their illegal whaling activities. When they didn't respond to radio contact we delivered a message via having our crew members sent on board the ship". Sea Shepherd is also accusing the whalers of assaulting its members. The Australian Federal Police have been alerted and say they are investigating. On Tuesday, the Federal Court in Australia ruled that Japan's hunting and killing of whales near the Australian coastline or off Australian Antarctic Territory is illegal. However, the court noted that unless the Japanese whalers entered Australian jurisdiction where they could be seized, there was no practical way the order could be enforced. Japan considers the sanctuary's waters to be the high seas. Only New Zealand, France, Norway and the United Kingdom recognise Australia's claim. Japan intends to kill 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales in the Southern Ocean this summer, despite international criticism. Japan's Foreign Ministry says the annual hunt is not breaking international law.