Anti-whaling activists accused Japanese whalers of ramming and sinking a high-tech protest boat in the Southern Ocean today, but Japan said that its ship could not avoid the collision.
The Australian government called for restraint by all parties after the hardline Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said its futuristic powerboat Ady Gil was cut in half by the Japanese security ship Shonan Maru No 2.
All six crew were rescued, but the collision left one activist with two broken ribs and the carbon-fibre trimaran was sinking, Sea Shepherd said.
"We believe it was deliberate. Our ship had come to a complete stop and they basically came straight down on top of them. They cleaned them up," the group's Australian director Jeff Hansen told Reuters.
Japan's Fisheries Agency said the collision took place when Ady Gil suddenly slowed down as it crossed in front of Shonan Maru, which had warned the boat of impending danger.
Ady Gil did not send a distress signal and did not appear to be sinking, the agency said, adding that Shonan Maru did not suffer major damage and its crew were safe.
"The series of obstructing activities by SS (Sea Shepherd) are dangerous acts that threaten the vessels engaged in scientific whaling as well as the lives and properties of the crew and they cannot be forgiven," it said.
Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 treaty, but Japan continues to cull whales saying it is for research purposes, deflecting criticism from anti-whaling nations.
Australia's government called for calm in the Southern Ocean and said it would not be sending a patrol boat to the area.
Reuters