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WHEREIN LIES THE TRUTH ?

It would seem not with Sea Shepherds as the Maltese Government is doubtful of the SS-PG statements veracity. The "Times of Malta" commentary this afternoon quotes The Malta Aquaculture Federation as saying that nothing could be further from the truth that Sea Shepherds were attacked by fishermen. NAUTICAL LOG quotes from the M.A.F. statement:

"Following the assault by the Steve Irwin on the Cesare Rustico only two days ago, the owners requested assistance and a number of vessels went to their aid. These vessels remained close to the Cesare Rustico because of the danger of a repeat attack. They were unfortunately proven right when this morning the black shape of the Steve Irwin loomed on the horizon like a modern day pirate, accompanied by a helicopter and a number of inflatable craft obviously intent on repeating the performance of a couple of days ago.

The Cesare Rustico sent out a mayday calling upon any available military vessel within the area to rush to its assistance and in an attempt to prevent further damage, deployed its accompanying vessels around the cage in tow. Flares were sent up as a warning to the Steve Irwin, strong words were exchanged by radio and the scene was set for another bloody confrontation. Meanwhile it seems that the Steve Irwin realised that it was being followed on radar by Libyan security forces. Its crew concluded that it would be a good moment to abandon the attack and, in behaviour reminiscent of school bullies confronted by a teacher they abandoned the scene in a great hurry to avoid being caught up by patrol vessels."

The Federation said the fishermen had been lucky in that another disaster at sea has been averted it continued that a strong presence of security forces is required at sea if further incidents are to be avoided. Indeed it is and The Netherlands Flag State pirate ship MS Steve Irwin must be arrested and brought to port to face violation of fishery protection laws by acts of piracy.

There followed in the "Times of Malta" a series of comments one of which questioned why the Armed Forces of Malta had not fired warning shots over the bow of the MS Steve Irwin followed by shots into the Bridge if she did not 'hove-too' immediately. It would seem the Maltese have had more than enough.

Good Watch.

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