Last week, Interpol-wanted vessel Thunder’ was scuttled in the waters of Sao Tome and Principe off the West African coast, following 110 days of pursuit by the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker’.
Sea Shepherd has said it believes that the sinking was an intentional act of sabotage by the ship’s captain and officers who were attempting to hide evidence of the vessel’s illegal fishing activity.
Sea Shepherd ships were able to rescue the entire crew of 40, including the captain, officers, and deck crew, who all disembarked to liferafts before the Thunder sank.
The Thunder’s crew was received by another Sea Shepherd vessel, the Sam Simon, which delivered the rescued men to the Sao Tome and Principe coast guard later that evening. Investigation into the sinking of the vessel is ongoing.
Sea Shepherd’s 11th Southern Ocean Defence Campaign, Operation Icefish, came to a close last week. The organisation says that the campaign has drawn world-wide attention to the issue of poaching vulnerable Antarctic and Patagonian toothfish and has led the way for an unprecedented level of international cooperation in the fight against illegal fishing in the world’s oceans.
Captain of the Bob Barker, Peter Hammarstedt, said, As always, we measure our success by the numbers of lives we save. Through Operation Icefish, Sea Shepherd has not only saved the lives of countless toothfish, but we have also succeeded in protecting the many other marine creatures that would otherwise have fallen prey to the indiscriminate killing of these illegal fishers. We have cost the poachers millions of dollars in lost profits and have sent a very clear message to those that remain poaching will not be tolerated in the waters of Antarctica.
Captain Hammarstedt will continue to liaise with Interpol to hand over the final pieces of evidence collected from the Thunder.
Mercator Media Ltd 2015