A vessel that began its Captain Paul Watson Foundation (CPWF) career from Corner Inlet last year remains at the centre of an international dispute over whaling in Iceland, with the latest development adding another hurdle to efforts to return the ship to service.
For people on the Prom Coast, the saga has a particularly local connection. With support from local community and volunteers, the 65-metre Bandero spent several months being refitted at Port Anthony near Welshpool before departing in February this year for marine conservation campaigns in Antarctica and Iceland.
The former Japanese fisheries patrol vessel was boarded by Icelandic Coast Guard and special forces on July 30 after the Bandero attempted to intercept the whaling vessel Hvalur 9. All 21 international crew members were detained and subsequently deported. The Bandero was towed from Reykjavík to the Icelandic port of Akranes on August 17.The Foundation is challenging the detention and seeking the vessel’s return.
Captain Paul Watson, who founded the CPWF, has rejected the legality of the seizure. “Legally I am confident that our ship will be returned. There is no legal justification for Iceland to hold it," said Watson.
The latest complication involves efforts to return the vessel to service. The Foundation arranged for a replacement chief engineer to travel to Iceland to assist the Bandero sail from the country but the crew member was refused entry by Icelandic authorities on August 27. The decision has created another obstacle to the Foundation’s efforts to regain control of the vessel and leave port.
Watson said the campaign had succeeded in bringing international attention to Iceland’s continued commercial whaling, even though the Bandero is currently prevented from completing its planned operation. "Ships are expendable. Whales are not," Watson said.
For now, the ship that became a familiar sight on Corner Inlet remains moored in an Icelandic port under government authority while the legal dispute continues.
