MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Whalers hand militant conservationists to Australian officials

Crew of the Japanese whaling vessel spray water at activists

Japanese whalers are praising the Australian government for its help to resolve a stand-off with militant conservationists in Antarctic waters. The whalers handed over the Australian and British protesters to Australian officials overnight

The activists from the anti-whaling group the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had been detained since Tuesday, when they boarded the Yushin Maru to deliver a letter of protest. The Japanese ship had said it would return the pair if the society promised to keep its distance so they could continue whaling. Glenn Inwood from the Institute of Cetacean Research says his group called on the Australian government to step in as it was clear negotiations were not working. Mr Inwood says the men were locked in a cabin, but he denies reports they were beaten The Australian customs ship Oceanic Viking picked up the two activists revealed Australian Foreign Affairs minister Stephen Smith. The two sides in the dispute have traded accusations of piracy and terrorism since the activists' boarded the harpoon ship Yushin Maru 2 on Tuesday. Smith had urged both sides to end their acrimony to allow a safe transfer of the pair. Australia's involvement came at the request of the Japanese government. Sea Shepherd had also said it wanted Australia's help to get its members back. Sea Shepherd said the pair wanted to deliver an anti-whaling letter and leave, and accused the whalers of taking their members hostage. Japanese whaling officials said the activists were acting like pirates. The face-off was a rapid escalation of the annual contest between the fleet that carries out Japan's whale hunt in Antarctic waters and conservationists who want the practice stopped. Japanese officials said repeated attempts to contact Sea Shepherd to arrange a return of the activists had failed, and accused them of dragging out the dispute to generate publicity. "It has become apparent that it will be impossible to hand the two trespassers back directly to Sea Shepherd, so our only option at this point is to make contact with another ship such as the customs vessel Australia dispatched," said Hideki Moronuki, a spokesman for the Japanese Fisheries Agency's whaling section. Australia, a firm opponent of whaling, sent the Oceanic Viking to the Antarctic Ocean last month to collect photo and video evidence that could be used in a possible challenge to Japan's scientific whaling program in international forums. Smith said the Oceanic Viking was within sight of the whaling fleet Thursday, but that the operation would only go ahead if the captains of both ships, and the two activists, cooperated.