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SOUTHERN OCEAN NOTES






In various Press Releases which arrived on the NAUTICAL LOG desk this morning comes news from both SSCS and JWF regarding the same incidents that took place over the last couple of days.

According to the JWF version the MS Gojira came close alongside and deployed a wire rope in an attempt to foul the propeller of the MS Yushin Maru #2. Now the Japanese must know as seamen that when underway at speed it is not easy to foul a ships propeller with a wire rope, regular rope would likely be more effective. Perhaps it was just a rope rope no wire - whatever. On the SSCS side our contact in the fleet says that in actual fact they did not deploy any rope and just gave that impression to have the MS Yushin Maru #2 alter her course - which it appears she did.

This is the second confrontation which is all designed to prevent the JWF to catch whales and as such may be considered effective. However what is the factory ship MS Nisshin Maru, which is in company with a catcher vessel MS Yushin Maru #1, doing since the MS Yushin Maru #3 is tailing the MS Bob Barker.

Later the MS Gojira met up with the MS Steve Irwin to replenish stores at which time the MS Yushin Maru #2 approached the vessels. The SSCS deployed a Delta RHIB to turn the JWF vessel away from the two stopped SSCS vessels. The result of this was that the JWF did indeed turn away once again.

It is surprising to NAUTICAL LOG that the JWF bother to follow the SSCS vessels and just do as they did last year which was to continue whaling right under the noses of the SSCS vessels. With the refuelling problems common to both fleets all this charging around the Southern Ocean does not appear to make very much sense at all. It appears to us that both sides are not settled on their strategies and are not sure about effective tactics. This is rather like military probing to take note of the reaction of the enemy to an action. Perhaps this is the JWF security force continuing to learn about the SSCS or just plain old messing around with each others heads. The JWF do seem very willing to attack and perhaps try to sink the MS Gojira as they did with the MS Ady Gil last season.

Good Watch.

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