Ady Gil Captain: We Tried To Turn To Starboard Just Before Impact

[Bill219]

http://www.ecorazzi.com/2010/01/09/ady-gil-captain-we-tried-to-turn-to-starboard-just-before-impact/?utm_medium=bt.io-twitter&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=backtype-tweetcount

“We were just idling. My guy driving tried to turn to starboard at last minute but was too late. Also had a wave pick us up which carried us another metre or so into danger. In the end we had right of way. They were on our port side and they were also overtaking. So it is up to them to steer clear of us regardless. A good result for the Japanese in short term, but this will hurt them dearly in the long term I believe.”

[flvegan]

1. Yup. Big REC for this one.

[I Have A Dream]

2. Happy to give this its 5th recommendation. nt

[BeFree]

3. Videos

The vids back up this statement.

The SS must have really pissed off the cap of the whaler.
The cap made a big, big mistake. Thankfully no one got hurt.
And a few more whales still swim free tonight.

[KittyWampus]

4. Oh, please. Like he wouldn't lie. Playing chicken with a much bigger boat. Bound to happen

[nosmokes]

11. WTF do *YOU* know about it? Sitting on your fat arse in the comfort of

your home/office while these folks (highly trained and experienced,BTW) are out on the water risking life,limb and property to save a species at risk because of sheer blood lust and greed.

Yet you presume to call them liars. That takes some fucking gall.

[Merchant Marine]

14. They're not very well trained compared to freshman cadets...

n/t

[ixion]

36. uh, there is video documenation

nice try, though. No chicken playing going on. In fact, they were idle when the "research" vessel turned right into them.

It's on video, and it's a very clear attack.

[Merchant Marine]

5. Can't be crossing and overtaking at the same time.

The navigation rules are explicit regarding this.

Sounds like they were caught off guard, indicating no real lookout was being kept. Just as the SM2 had an obligation to keep clear of the AG, the AG had an obligation to maneuver when it became clear that the SM2 was not maneuvering.

[TexasObserver]

27. The video from both vessels proves the Japanese ship turned into the AG.

It was an intentional and unexpected ramming by the Japanese ship.

Look at the video.

[canetoad]

6. Sorry

Much as I'd like them to be in the right, the overiding law at sea is take all action possible to avoid a collision.

[Dead_Parrot]

7. Unless you are a whaler, I assume. nt

[canetoad]

8. I'd love to see this fought out

and maritime law re-defined. But it aint gonna happen.

[Dead_Parrot]

13. Why would it need to be re-defined?

Either the overriding law at sea is take all action possible to avoid a collision, or it isn't.

[Merchant Marine]

15. Both vessels have obligations

Both vessels failed to take appropriate action.

The old industry joke goes "If you took appropriate action you wouldn't have hit him!"

[flvegan]

9. Ooooh, snap!

[Merchant Marine]

10. Both vessels are at fault

And the investigation will apportion blame as it is due.

[ixion]

38. the video(s) indicate the opposite

the show a very clear attack by the "research" vessel.

[TexasObserver]

28. The law of the sea is not to ram idle vessels by turning into them.

If you've seen the video from both vessels, you know the AG was just sitting there idle when the Japanese vessel attacked them, first with a water cannon, and turning hard starboard into the small vessel.

It was an intentional act of ramming.

[NYC_SKP]

12. I called it.

I suggested that the pilot gave it thrust in a last minute attempt to avoid collision, and that it was an error.

What wasn't clear was if they'd hoped to jet across the path of the incoming whaler or, as they explain, turn hard to starboard.

As it turns out, they didn't move very far between the thrust and the impact.

And, it seems that it wasn't the very skilled Captain Pete Bethune at the helm after all.

[AllenVanAllen]

16. Both may technically at fault

But SM2 is holds far more of the blame for the collision.

The SM2 had plenty of distance to clear the AG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfgPgnyX0ak


They underestimated how driven the captain of the SM2 had become

[KittyWampus]

17. Actually, the smaller boat harassing and playing chicken with the bigger boat

just might get assigned more blame.

[NYC_SKP]

21. Did you watch the youtube? It changed my mind.

Taken from the Ady Gil, the motors are off and the crew just chatting.

The Shanon Maru is hundreds of yards away, the LRAD starts sounding and the water cannons start working.

While it's their stated purpose to interfere with the whaling vessels, this looks like a case in which they were just drifing and the whaler came right toward them.

Watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfgPgnyX0ak

[Merchant Marine]

23. SM2 is a converted whaler; they dropped the harpoon for a water cannon

Its mission is to harass the SSCS and keep them from intercepting the main fleet.

[AllenVanAllen]

25. "to harass the SSCS and keep them from intercepting the main fleet"

Well, mission accomplished there. I guess we'll never know whether the captain of the SM2 decided to sink the AG on his own or was given orders to.



Our oceans are dying for profit and most people don't give a shit. I just don't get it.

[girl gone mad]

35. Thanks for the additional information.

The growing body of evidence seems to be pointing in a very clear direction. The Japanese crew were attempting to cause damage, injury or even death.

[Merchant Marine]

18. Given the top speed of the SM2

As 12 knots, and the time from photo to 0 CPA as 3 minutes, gives me a distance run of .80 miles.

I cannot comment on how close the SM2 came unless I know her turning circle.

[NYC_SKP]

19. By far the most revealing video yet posted. LRAD and water cannon firing away...

...the Shanon Maru clearly came at them with the intention of fucking them up.

Thanks for posting.

[AllenVanAllen]

20. I'm just glad he didn't kill anyone.

Because it would have been easy in that situation.

:hi:

[Merchant Marine]

22. I'm cross-posting this from the other thread

It is likely that a marine inquiry will find both vessels to be at fault.


I'd like to note that 490 tons is not a very big ship. The training vessel I sail on displaces 9,132 tons, and we call her a baby ship. Even 9,000 tons moves quite a bit when you've got big swells coming in across your trackline. We'd notice course variations of 5-10 degrees with hand steering as we'd try to compensate for the forces shoving the bow around.

I maintain that the Ady Gil was underway at the time of the collision, and that both vessels closed on a shallow converging course. This reinforces the accident theory, as shallowly converging courses are the most difficult to judge by eye. The Ady Gil had no radar onboard, and was supposedly "stealth", so radar could not have been used to avoid the collision. The poor visibility from the cockpit and lack of a good lookout on the Ady Gil contributed greatly to the collision, particularly in the final seconds.

Faults of the Shonan Maru 2
- Failed to uphold the responsibilities of a give-way vessel (Rule 16)
- Did not maintain a safe speed (Rule 6)
- Did not maintain sufficient sea room (Rule 8)

Faults of the Ady Gil
- Failure to show good seamanship practices (Rule 2)
- Failure to keep a good lookout (Rule 5)
- Did not maneuver when it became clear that the Shonan Maru 2 was not upholding her responsibilities as the give-way vessel. (Rule 17)
- Ignored LRAD warning signal from Shonan Maru 2 (Rule 36)
- Failure to mount radar reflector as required of craft with poor radar signatures (SOLAS 19.2.1.7)

(Edit: Collision Regs are listed here: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/rotr_online.htm )

[muriel_volestrangler]

37. Plus there's the water cannon

Not covered in normal maritime regulations, I suspect; and then there's the turn the SM2 took to come close in the first place. The water cannon puts the crew on the deck of the AG at risk of being pushed overboard, and limits the visibility of the AG's crew. Those regulations all seem to be written for the situation where the boats would rather stay apart, or at least maintain their course,, rather than when one wants to get close to the other, as in this case.

[Merchant Marine]

39. Water cannons fall under good seamanship

They are commonly used to shoo away smallcraft and the academy teaches us how to use them to repel boarders.

[onestepforward]

24. For me, his statement coincides with the videos.

I don't know how this will play out in court, but I think too that this will hurt the whalers in the long term. The whalers really jacked-up the level of aggression to an alarming level.

The AG crew were caught off-guard and that was their fault. I'm sure that won't happen again.

Safe voyage to the Sea Shepherds.

[TexasObserver]

29. The AG was just sitting there, idling, and caught completely off guard.

The Japanese ship was headed in their general direction, but not at the AG, until the last few seconds. It shocked me to see the Japanese ship attack so aggressively. There was no doubt about their intentions. They shot the water cannon at the AG as they turned into it, and after destroying it, they continued firing the water cannon, even as the AG fought to stay afloat.

It was a criminal act on international waters and should be treated as such.

[onestepforward]

30. I totally agree.

It was an incredibly dangerous and stupid move by the whalers and I doubt it will fare well for them. With all the cameras and the worldwide interest, I'm still surprised that they did it.

[Dead_Parrot]

31. I doubt they expected the crew of the Ady Gil to be already filming.

A "Quick, grab the camera" shot is relatively easy to question, as we've seen with the responses to the Bob Barker footage, and it'll be a cold day in hell before the ICR release a longer shot. Having the camera already filming the crew monging on deck (coincidentally with the Maru approaching in the background) probably came as a nasty shock - It certainly blew the "They stopped right in front of us and we couldn't miss" line into touch.

[onestepforward]

32. Good point.

This was a big risk that the whalers took. Again, so suprising. It has a sense of an emotional outburst verses a well thought out plan, if that makes any sense. :)

[Dead_Parrot]

34. I'd like to think....

...That ramming a small boat in the Southern Ocean would never feature as part of a well thought out plan, unless you happen to be the bad guy in a Bond film.

[TexasObserver]

26. Recommend

[onestepforward]

33. In Paul Watson's words:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG7nLLF-Np0